Real Life
by TheQuirkyWriter
Summary: AU He treats his ills with daily pills. He lives his life full of strife. A life surreal, not always real. Arthur lives with a disorder called schizophrenia. When he meets Alfred, he thinks he's found something real. Alfred/Arthur USUK other pairs inside
1. The Prologue

**Oh wow! My first multi-chap! This is so exciting! I hope you like it! As usual the main pairing is USUK, there'll also be some GerIta and Franada and one other pairing, but that's a surprise for later! **

**In the summary, the 'he treats his ills with daily pills' comes from the musical Blood Brothers.  
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**This is the prologue, just something to set the story. Uhm, if any of you are confused by this, it makes more sense if you know that Arthur has schizophrenia in this story. **

**Anyway I would really appreciate it if you guys would review. Negative and critical reviews are accepted as well as nice ones! I just really want feedback; because I probably won't continue it if no one shows interest in the story… ooph… sorry if that sounded bitchy.**

**Anyway, please read, enjoy, and review! The first chapter should hopefully be up by next week! Hopefully.**

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><p><strong><em>Prologue<em>**

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><p>'<em>They're not real…'<em>

Then again, what exactly is real? Is something only real because everyone else can perceive it? Real, by definition, is, after all:Being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verifiable existence: True and actual; not imaginary, alleged, or ideal.

But they felt and looked _so real_ to him. They were his friends, his memories, his… life. Or at least the closet thing he had to one.

His mother didn't understand it. His peers at school mocked him for it. He was an outcast. An outcast by choice. He wanted to be alone. If he was alone he didn't have to worry about people looking at him strangely. Telling him there was nothing there when he was talking to his "friends."

So he stayed away. Stopped talking to his classmates and school friends. Stopped participating in social activities.

However it was worse at home. He'd lock himself up in his room. Stopped eating meals and taking care of himself. It got so bad that his mother had to force him to eat and shower so he wouldn't starve or get sick.

He couldn't take it. Nothing made sense. Nothing.

"We make sense. We're your friends!" No! Those voices, they weren't… they're not…

'_They're not real… they're not real!' _He chanted it like a mantra over and over in his head, hoping if he thought it; it would make them go away. The voices, the creatures, the dreams… his friends, memories, and life would just go away, and he could be normal.

"We are real! We're the only ones you can trust! Don't listen to _them_!"

"Stop it! Shut up!" He hissed, swatting at voices and images only he could see. _Them,_ of course was referring to the doctors, psychiatrists, and psychologists, all telling him there was something wrong with him; that what he knew as life wasn't real and that he needed help. Help to get better.

"You don't need to get better Arthur! You need us, your friends!" But they're not real! He needed to remember they're not real.

"You're not real. None of you are!" He said, practically yelling, hiding his face in his hands as he huddled in the corner of his room.

'_I want it all to go away. I can make them go away…'_

"I can make you leave me alone!" He whispered, revealing a razor that had been hidden in his palm.

Suddenly there was a knock. He resisted the urge to look over to his locked door.

"Arthur dear? Are you alright? I thought I heard voices…" His mother's voice trembled with worry as she jiggled the knob, attempting to open the door.

"Arthur?" She called again, but her calls were ignored as he raised the blade to his wrists.

"Don't answer her, Arthur! She doesn't understand you!" The voices cried, crowding around him as he sliced a deep cut through his wrist, deep red rubies spilling out slowly in trills.

"Arthur! Sweetheart, please open the door!" His mother cried helplessly and banged on the door, hoping desperately for a response, but like his "friends" she was ignored as he cut through the pale skin of his other wrist, taking comfort in the warmth of the red liquid that spurted out and flowed down his arm.

As the door banged and his mother continued calling his name, the voices and images grew weaker. And as they grew weaker, his vision became fuzzy, blurry, and darker. His mind grew hazy and tired, and he could feel himself drifting off into the freedom that was unconsciousness…

"Arthur please! Open the door! Open the door Arthur please! Please! ARTHUR!"

… and let the darkness envelope him in a warm embrace.

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><p><strong>Well hopefully that wasn't too confusing or bad or weird or anything! Please, please, please tell me what you thought, tell me if you're interested, even tell me if you hated it! I just want to know if this fic is worth my time to write and your time to read. Ok, thus ends my ramblings.<strong>


	2. Can You See Him Too?

**Ok, so as promised, here's the first chapter! If it sucks and you guys totally dislike it or hate it, I'll re-do it if you want. Anyway these takes place five years after the prologue, so yeah, the prologue won't be explained completely, until later chapters.**

**Here's the ages of the characters in this chapter. I basically have all them as the age they appear to be in the anime/manga. Except for France, but only because if he was 26, the story line would be a little off, but you'll understand why I've made him younger in later chapters.**

**Arthur is 23 (making him 18 in the prologue)**

**Francis is 24 **

**Matthew is 19**

**So yeah, tell me what you guys think! Do you want me to re-write it? Are you disappointed with this as the first chapter? I hope not! Please review, because I tend to not wanna write when I don't get feedback. Gosh, I just sound mean, don't I?**

**Hopefully I edited this enough. I think I did.**

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><p><strong>Chapter One: Can You See Him Too?<strong>

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><p><strong>Five Years Later<strong>

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><p>"They're not real."<p>

Today was like any other day, for Arthur. He had gotten up at 7:30 am. Took a shower; using his Irish Spring bar soap, and Pantene shampoo. Got dressed; putting his usual khakis with some sort of sweater, shirt combo. Ate breakfast; made an earl grey tea, and put jam on his toast. And left for work; taking the A train and getting off, roughly three blocks away, from the publishing company he worked at.

Oh yeah, and at some point he'd pop a couple pills. Usually after he brushed his teeth, but before he got in the shower.

It was a monotonous routine, but it worked for him. Without the routine he felt like he'd have less control. Maybe it was because he was merely an uptight, prick; or maybe it was because he just felt helpless at his inability to control his random, sporadic schizophrenic episodes.

He prefers to think it's the former, because he also likes to think that he doesn't let his disorder affect his conscious actions. Too bad he can only think it, though.

"What? No way! Look at them! Those, _mon cher_, are real!"

Arthur scoffed, peering over his paper at his French, blonde, companion; who was currently starring, quite obviously, at a waitress' breasts. The Frenchmen looked at him, an eyebrow raised and perverted smirk on his lips, a low chortle forming in his throat.

"Are you kidding? You bloody frog, look at them. They're way too round and symmetrical." He muttered quietly, so as not to gain attention from the other patrons in the café. The man across the table from him shook his head amusedly, and tsked at Arthur.

"_S'il vous plait, _Arthur, aren't you a little out of your depth to pass judgment? Hm?" The French blonde said, chiding him as if he were his mother. Arthur rolled his eyes and folded his paper, causing it to crinkle, and placed it on the table. He narrowed his green eyes, giving the Frenchmen a stern, yet somewhat teasing, look.

"That's a little hypocritical, coming from you, Francis." The man, Francis, feigned a hurt expression, placing a hand on his heart.

'_If he even has a heart' _Arthur thought absent mindedly.

"Whatever do you mean, Arthur?"

Arthur sighed and looked at his wrist watch before dully looking back at Francis.

"Nothing; you just seem to prefer the company of your 'gentlemen friends' over your lady friends, is all." Francis seemed as if he were about to retort, pointing his finger at Arthur accusingly; but ended up smirking, finger retreating, as he let out a happy hum in agreement.

"Well I guess that is true." Francis said, leaning back in his chair, a smug expression adorning his handsome face. Arthur's face suddenly twitched, but Francis ignored it and continued speaking, used to Arthur's random twitches and ticks.

"But, it doesn't mean I still don't, occasionally, enjoy the _l'amour_ of a woman!" Francis returned his gaze to the busty waitress across the room, and winked. The waitress giggled and winked back. Arthur wouldn't be surprised if her number somehow found its way into Francis' bill.

"Yes well," slapping money down on the table and gathering his paper, he stood. "This has all been very interesting, but I must return to work now." As Arthur left, he could vaguely hear Francis bid goodbye, and gave a small wave over his shoulder as he exited the tiny café, that was conveniently on the same street as his work.

The rest of the day went on without anything particularly interesting or out of the ordinary happening, but Arthur preferred it this way. If nothing happened it meant he wasn't crazy. And if he wasn't crazy he was, well… normal. Bored, maybe, but normal nonetheless.

However today, when he returned home from work, something was wrong. As he unlocked the door of his shared apartment with Francis, and opened the door, he found everything in place, where it usually was; but there was an addition.

There on his couch sat a young man, probably no older than 19, with cerulean eyes, hidden by oval glasses, and ashen hair, with a single curly strand out of place. The boy had a very shy demeanor, as he nervously looked at Arthur from across the room.

Though shy, he looked friendly as he hesitantly smiled and waved at Arthur.

"H-hey, you must be Arthur." He said with an inviting, yet timid, tone.

Arthur's face remained stoic as he closed the door behind him, and placed his bag on the floor beside a little table with a decorative bow, which he put his keys in.

Instead of answering the strange boy, who obviously knew him somehow, Arthur ignored him, and walked into the adjourned kitchen, where he proceeded to prep his electric kettle for some tea.

The ashen haired boy cleared his throat, in hopes of getting Arthur's attention, but was once again ignored. Slowly, and hesitantly, he lifted himself from the couch and approached the Brit, whose attention was on his kettle and tea bags.

"Uhm… I've heard a lot about you, you're from England, right?" Like before, the shy young man's attempt at conversation was shut down as Arthur went through one of his cupboards, producing a mug with the British flag depicted on it.

The ashen haired boy nervously fiddled with his fingers, not sure if he should attempt conversation again, or just accept that Arthur was deliberately ignoring him, even though the two had never met.

He carefully observed Arthur's actions and noticed his face had twitched a few times, as well as his hands and fingers.

He cleared his throat again in one last attempt to gain a response from Arthur, but failed. Sighing in defeat he took a seat on one of the stools by the island counter top, and watched as Arthur poured hot water into his mug, and prepared his tea.

It was eerily silent in the room, both of the men uncomfortable in the current situation, although Arthur didn't show it. He'd obviously had practice doing this, ignoring people, the shy boy thought.

Thankfully though, a flush was heard, followed by the sound of a sink running. Seconds later the door to the bathroom opened and out came Francis.

He walked over to the two uncomfortable males, instantly sensing the tense atmosphere. Slowly, he approached Arthur, who was stirring a bit of milk into his tea.

Arthur, seeing his roommate, urgently gestured for him to come closer. Francis leaned closer, as Arthur conspiringly looked over to the third body in the room.

"Francis, can you see the young boy in glasses?" Arthur asked in a careful whisper. The aforementioned "young boy" looked at the two older men curiously. Confusion was evident on his face.

Francis, who didn't look at all thrown at the strange question, smiled and nodded. He placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder and gestured to the other man.

"Yes, I do. Arthur, I'd like you to meet my friend, _Matthieu. Matthieu_, this is my good friend and roommate, Arthur." Francis said confidently. Matthew smiled awkwardly, not sure what was happening, for now Arthur was acknowledging his presence; even offering his hand as a friendly gesture. Matthew smiled at Arthur, who smiled back, and shook hands with him, even though he had no idea what was going on.

"It's very nice to meet you Matthew." Arthur greeted.

"Likewise, Francis has only had the nicest things to say about you." The two took back their hands, and the awkward atmosphere was once again present.

"Well then, I'll get out of yours and Matthew's hair, Francis." Arthur said and as quickly as he could, excused himself from the room. A look of utter horror and embarrassment appeared on his face as soon as he was out of the pairs' sight. To his humiliation, he could overhear Francis apologizing for his strange behavior.

'_Damn…'_ He cursed as he retreated to the safety of his room, shutting the door behind him, and sliding down against it none to gracefully. A bit of hot tea splashed out, staining his white shirt.

How could he have been so…

'_Stupid.'_

Of course. Of course Matthew was real! He should've known. It had been months since his last… hallucination… and he wasn't even under any stress or distress, or had lapsed into any sort of depressive state.

Now he had just humiliated himself in front of Francis' new "boy-toy," or friend, or whatever the hell the boy was. He let paranoia once again prevent him from making a normal first impression. Once again having to have Francis clean up his mess and explain his rude and strange behavior.

But what else could he have done, though? Just talk to him? Maybe that would've been fine for anyone else, but for him… for him it wasn't that simple. He didn't have that luxury.

He couldn't just talk with Matthew because, what if Matthew wasn't real? What if he was his latest hallucination? If that were true and he had acknowledged him and spoke with him, it'd be all the more difficult to get rid of him.

So he played it safe. Ignored him and waited for Francis or anyone else he knew to come so he could confirm whether or not he was real or fake. And once again he embarrassed himself as well as making poor Matthew uncomfortable and probably even offended.

At least he could take comfort in the fact that it had occasionally saved him from being consumed by a delusion or hallucination. However, though, it didn't happen often enough to make him feel better about being an asshole.

'_Maybe I should just go back to being a hermit.' _He thought sullenly, sipping his tea. His phone buzzed in his pocket, signaling the arrival of a text. He dug the small device out of his pocket and clicked the message. It was from Francis.

**Francis:**

**explaind sitch 2 matthew. Says its ok an undrstands.**

Well, looks like him making an arse out of himself had, once again, turned out fine. Francis had a lot of practice doing this, explaining his actions, after all.

Pressing his ear against the wooden door of his room, he listened to the muffled voices of Francis and Matthew. They sounded casual and light-hearted, so he guessed they had changed the subject.

'_Thank goodness.'_ He thinks.

Arthur had never liked the idea of others speaking of his schizophrenia without him there. He felt as though, if he weren't there, people wouldn't understand and proceed to mock him, or they'd just get the wrong idea about schizophrenics in general. He was never exactly sure what it was that bugged him about it, it just did.

Their voices paused and he thought he heard footsteps approaching his room. His suspicions were confirmed when there were a few brief knocks. He didn't have to open to know it was Francis though.

Slowly he stood and opened the door. He instantly glared at his roommate once he came into view.

"Before you say anything, I'm sorry, I-"

"What the hell, Francis!" Arthur hissed quietly, not wanting Matthew to overhear. He glared at Francis intently, who just looked apologetic.

"You know, I've never once complained about you bringing your 'flavor of the week' over before; because you'd tell me so I wouldn't have to come home and make an arse of myself!" Arthur was seething, furious at his roommate. Francis sighed and avoided his glare.

"I know! I must've forgotten to tell you, I'm sorry, Arthur. It'll never happen again."

Arthur softened his gaze and nodded, stuffing his hands in pockets, he timidly looked away as well.

"You know it's hard for me to… to meet new people." He confessed softly, although the Frenchmen had already heard him say it. Francis smiled and nodded, placing his hand on Arthur's shoulder.

"I know, _mon cher_, I know. Look, _Matthieu_ and I are going out to catch _diner et un film, _you're welcome to come." Arthur shook his head declining Francis' offer, his shoulders twitched upward, unintentionally removing his roommate's hand. He didn't say anything, though, but Francis sort of expected that. Arthur was always a bit anti social. Especially when something unexpected happened, like just now with Matthew, or he felt as if he weren't in control.

The Frenchmen suspected that it was probably a little of both.

He turned to leave Arthur's room, closing the door behind him. Arthur stayed still for a moment, listening to more mumbled voices from Francis and Matthew. Eventually he heard the door to the apartment close.

His shoulders slumped and he sighed in relief. At least he could now take comfort in the fact that he was now alone.

'_So very much alone.'_

And it was probably better that way anyway… right?

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><p><strong>Translations:<strong>

**Mon cher – My dear**

**Matthieu – Matthew**

**Diner et un film – Dinner and a movie**

**S'il vous plait – please**

**L'amour - Love**

**Wow, I hope this didn't suck too much or was too big of a disappointment! If you're wondering why Arthur randomly twitches, it's because it's a long term side-effect of schizophrenic medication called Tardive dyskinesia or TD. **

**Also, I promise, Alfred will be in the second chapter!**

**Please tell me what you guys think! Or if you think I should just re-do the first chapter. Because I am willing to do that if you guys are unhappy with this as a first chapter. Please review!**


	3. Alfred the LookALike

**Well here it is! (much sooner than I expected) The second chapter! YAY!**

**Hopefully I edited this enough! **

**Uhm, I always reply to every review to thank them for, well reviewing. So here's another thanks! And to my anonymous reviewers and those of you who don't allow PM's, thank you all so much! I really do appreciate all the reviews! And I'm 100% honest when I tell you that reviews give me the enthusiasm to update faster! That's why this chapter is being posted today and not next week.**

**Ages for new characters appearing in this chapter:**

**Alfred – 19**

**Feliciano – 20**

**Ludwig – 20**

**Anyway, I hope you really like this new chapter! Also, if anyone can find the Monty Python reference, I'll give a shout out to you in the next chapter!**

**Read, enjoy, review!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Two: Alfred the Look-A-Like<strong>

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><p>To say Arthur was shocked would be an understatement. It had been two weeks since his first (atrocious) meeting with Matthew, and so far, almost every day, he came home to find the shy boy in his living room with Francis, making various plans for the evening. A couple times Arthur even found Matthew sneaking out of their apartment in the middle of the night.<p>

Most shocking of all, though, was this morning, when he walked into their kitchen/living room, to find Matthew and Francis eating breakfast together.

He was downright baffled. Most of Francis' flings never lasted more than a few days at most, and never once had he let them stay over the whole night, AND have breakfast together.

"Good morning, _mon cher_! Would you like some of the _délicieux_ pancakes_ Matthieu_ made?" Francis gestured to a short, fluffy stack of golden brown pancakes with his fork. His other hand, Arthur noted, was holding Matthew's hand.

Arthur hesitantly looked at the pancakes, tempted to say yes, but ended up shaking his head, and went to prepare his usual breakfast.

"No, thank you though for offering." Arthur said, frowning, he could sense the atmosphere surrounding them become tense. Even though Arthur and Matthew were on good terms… or well, as could as they could be even though the two didn't converse often. (A certain Frenchmen tended to keep Matthew too busy to talk, "Know what I mean? Know what I mean? Nudge nudge. Nudge nudge. Know what I mean? Say no more...know what I mean?")

Arthur could hear the two speaking in hushed tones to each other, but ignored it. If it were any of his business they wouldn't be whispering.

So he fell into his routine, pouring hot water from his kettle and into a mug with a teabag, and let it cool, going over to place two pieces of bread in the toaster. As he inserted the toast his arm spasmed slightly, knocking over the toaster.

"Ahem…" Francis had cleared his throat, gaining Arthur's attention. The green eyed man looked over and was met by two pairs of blue eyes.

"Yes?" Arthur asked, cocking a prominent eyebrow, putting the toaster back up-right. Francis smiled and Matthew attempted to not look nervous.

"Arthur, you don't have any plans for Friday night? Do you?" Francis asked, obviously hinting at something, but Arthur wasn't sure what. Hesitantly, the Briton shook his head and took a sip of his tea.

"Nothing as of yet. Why?" He answered causing Francis to grin and nudge Matthew with his elbow, encouraging him to speak. Arthur looked at him expectantly. Matthew cleared his throat and smiled, nervously meeting Arthur's gaze.

"Uhm, well, my roommates and I are having a small party Friday at our apartment, and I thought you might like to come with Francis." He said it very softly, but Arthur was still able to hear it. He stared at Matthew for several, extremely uncomfortable moments, trying to avoid his and Francis' expectant stares.

When he didn't answer, Francis grunted, breaking the silence.

"I'm sure he's just thinking about it_, mon amour_, don't worry, I'm sure he'd love to attend." Francis said, furtively glancing at Arthur from the corner of his eyes, Arthur frowned at him. Matthew smiled at both of them and wiped his mouth free of any food or syrup, and stood.

"Alright then, I better get to class. I'll see you guys Friday then?" Francis nodded, placing his hand on Matthew's elbow, pulling him down and pecking him on the lips.

"See you Friday, _mon amour." _Blushing a deep scarlet, Matthew smiled and waved goodbye to Arthur and Francis and left the apartment.

It was silent for a moment until Arthur's toast popped out, causing the Brit to jump out of surprise. Putting the toast on a plate, he spread jam on it, and joined Francis at the table.

"Really, Francis? You're going to make me attend a bloody college party?" Arthur asked irritated, a grimace on his lips, as he glared daggers at his roommate. Francis rolled his eyes.

"Please, Arthur, you act as if you're an old, crotchety man. _vivre un peu_! Come to the party! I promise it won't just be a bunch of young, immature, college kids." Arthur looked at Francis disapprovingly.

"You realize you're dating one of those 'young, immature, college kids,' right?" Francis groaned at Arthur's words and leaned back in his chair, pressing his hands over his eyes.

"And your point is, _mon cher_?"

"That perhaps, Matthew is a little young for you." Arthur said blatantly as he took a bite of his toast. Francis rolled his eyes and looked at his roommate exasperatedly.

"_Matthieu_ is a sophomore at NYU. I'm hardly a cradle robber!" Francis defended. This time Arthur got to roll his eyes.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night. Oh and by the way, I'm not going." Arthur had murmured the first part. Francis shook his head and chuckled.

"Yes you are." Francis stated. Arthur glared.

"Oh and why is that?" Arthur challenged, Francis smirked smugly.

"Because, you're my _meilleur ami_, and _Matthieu_ is important to me." Arthur grumbled, sighing in defeat and nodded. Francis smiled in appreciation and said a small thank you, and began to clear off the dirty dishes.

"Don't be such a _monsieur _frowny face, Arthur! You'll have fun! _Matthieu's_ roommates are great."

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><p>Friday night had come sooner than Arthur had expected. He was dreading the thought of going to a party of strangers, but Francis promised not to leave him alone unless he was comfortable.<p>

So there he was, standing next to Francis, outside Matthew's apartment door.

He expected that once the door opened, they'd find an overly crowded room, filled to the brink with the stench of alcohol and B-O. He assumed the music would be atrocious, blaring through crappy speakers, and there'd be several couples grinding.

Francis opened the door and Arthur braced himself for the horror he imagined.

Fortunately though, when they entered the room, he was pleased to see that it was only moderately filled, there weren't too many or too few people. Music played softly in the background, and the room smelled clean with only hints of alcohol or perfumes here and there. The room was well lit, so it was easy to make out peoples' faces and find your way around.

Francis closed the door behind him as Matthew and another, shorter, man with brunette hair, who looked to be around Matthew's age came over to greet them.

"Francis, Arthur! I'm glad you guys could come!" Matthew greeted, he had pecked Francis on the cheek, before turning to Arthur and gesturing towards the shorter boy.

"Arthur, this is my roommate, Feliciano. Feli, this is Francis' roommate, Arthur." The brunette, Feliciano, smiled happily and leaned in close to Arthur, who was slightly taller than him.

"Ve~ Hello Arthur!" He greeted, a little too loudly and friendly for Arthur's tastes, in an Italian accent. Before Arthur could greet back, Feliciano leaned upwards and kissed either sides of his cheeks. Arthur knew this was a common Italian greeting, but he felt uncomfortable nonetheless, as his face twitched involuntarily.

"Uh… yes. Well- uh… Hi." Arthur stuttered out. He saw out of the corner of his eye, that Francis had a very amused expression. Thankfully Matthew sensed Arthur's discomfort and stepped forward.

"Hey, uhm, Feli, why don't you go see if Ludwig needs any company." Matthew said, gesturing across the room to a tall, muscular, stoic, blonde standing alone in a corner, sipping a beer. Feliciano blushed as his smile somehow managed to brighten.

"Ve~ I'll talk to you all later then!" He then wandered off, over to the blonde, Ludwig, who had surprisingly, greeted Feliciano with much more enthusiasm than Arthur expected. He assumed the two were in some sort of relationship, whether they were just friends or dating, they seemed to have some sort of bond.

"Right, so why don't you guys make yourselves at home? Beer, soda, and food are in the kitchen." Matthew pointed with his hand to a joint kitchen Arthur hadn't noticed before.

Matthew then walked away, re-joining a group of people he was previously with.

"Beer?" Francis asked, pointing to the kitchen. Arthur nodded and the two ventured off towards the tiled room. There were a few people already there talking, but Arthur didn't recognize any of the-

'_Wait, is that Matthew?' _Arthur did a double take towards the group when he noticed a young man who looked practically identical to Matthew. He looked over his shoulder to the living room and saw that Matthew was still there, and looked back to the new, familiar face.

On closer inspection though, Arthur noted that this look-a-like had lighter, shorter, hair, and his eyes were more sky-blue instead of cerulean. He had glasses like Matthew's, but his were more rectangular. He also had a much more confident air about him, and his build was a bit broader than Matthew's.

Francis noticed Arthur's be-wildered stare and followed it.

"That's _Matthieu's _twin brother, Alfred." Francis explained. Upon hearing his name, Alfred looked over and smiled.

"Hey Francis!" He excused himself from the group and walked over to Arthur and Francis, giving a small wave with his free hand, while the other held a beer.

"Glad you could come!" Alfred, who like Feliciano was way too… affectionate, wrapped his arms around Francis in a friendly hug.

"Oh, it is my _le plaisir_!"

Francis returned the hug and the two separated. Alfred turned his attention to Arthur and extended his hand to him.

"You must be Francis' friend, Arthur, right?" He had a very friendly and genuine demeanor that matched his easy-going grin; a rather handsome grin at that.

Arthur side-glanced at Francis before looking back at Alfred and shook his hand.

"Well I'm Mattie's brother, Alfred. It's nice to meet you!"

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><p><strong>Translations:<strong>

**Délicieux – Delicious**

**Vivre un peu – Live a little**

**Meilleur ami – Best friend**

**Monsieur – Mister**

**Le plaisir – Pleasure**

**Well there it is! Chapter two! YAY! Alfred is now officially in the story! Anyone find the Monty Python reference? **

**Also, anyone besides me, think it's ironic and a bit foreshadow-y that Arthur dissaproves of Francis' much younger boyfriend Matthew? (Who is the same age as Alfred?)**

**I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP, probably by next week, but depending on the reviews, who knows! I don't know lol. Anyway, please tell me what you thought in a review!**


	4. Publishers Work With Books

**Well, here it is! Chapter three! Much sooner than I expected too. I guess when I read your reviews I felt the need to update faster! Lol. Whatever. Anyway…**

**Thank you to all my anonymous reviewers and those of you who don't allow PMs! They mean so much to me!**

**I hope I edited this enough!**

**As for the Monty Python reference, the reference was from a skit and the line from that skit was "****Know what I mean? Know what I mean? Nudge nudge. Nudge nudge. Know what I mean? Say no more...know what I mean?****" And the readers who got the reference, or just guessed, are: OwnTheWorld, (who was the first! YAY!) TaiyouChan, and alexdemyx!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Three: Publishers Work with Books<strong>

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><p>Arthur wasn't exactly sure why he told Francis he'd be ok without him around. Maybe it was because he was tired or perhaps the beer, or even a combination of the two; but after about two hours of hanging around Francis and Matthew at the party, he'd told them he'd be fine on his own and wandered off.<p>

That was about thirty minutes ago, and besides the brief conversation he had with Feliciano, Matthew's other roommate Ludwig, and some woman named Elizaveta, he'd stuck to himself.

Now here he was, by himself, leaning against the wall and nursing his fourth beer. He looked around the room and his eyes caught Alfred's, Matthew's twin. Other than their brief meeting in the kitchen, which primarily consisted of him listening to Alfred's and Francis' small talk, they hadn't conversed much.

Alfred casted a charming smile his way and Arthur pretended he didn't get butterflies. It wasn't his fault Alfred was extremely attractive. Instead of smiling back though, Arthur looked down towards his beer, thankful that he wasn't blushing.

He sighed and looked over to his wrist watch, it was about 12:30. Looking over to where Matthew and Francis were sitting with some other blokes, Arthur decided he'd hang around for another thirty minutes before leaving. Whether Francis would leave with him or not didn't really matter.

Arthur leaned his head against the wall and listened to the low sound of music. He wasn't sure, but he thought it may have been a James Blunt song, but he couldn't be sure. Before he could think too hard on it though, he was interrupted.

"Hey, Arthur, right?" Looking over to his left, Arthur found Alfred standing there with his hands stuffed into his pockets. Arthur, while attempting to not look startled, nodded.

"Yes, and you're Alfred." Alfred nodded and smiled, even though Arthur didn't phrase it as a question. The young man then leant back against the wall.

"So are you having fun?" Alfred asked. Arthur shrugged and took a swig of his beer.

"I guess…" He muttered into his bottle, he heard Alfred chuckle and looked over at him.

"You guess?" Alfred, for some reason unclear to Arthur, seemed to be very amused by his answer.

"Parties just aren't my thing." Arthur said, hoping that would clarify the confusion. Alfred nodded, but still looked amused.

"Then why'd you even come if they're not your 'thing?'" Alfred asked, bringing up his hands to put air quotations around 'things.' Arthur, sensing that he was being teased, swallowed his urge to glare at his amused host.

"Francis wanted me to come to get know Matthew better." Arthur explained, gesturing over to Alfred's brother. And he had gotten to know Matthew better. In those two hours he had hung out with him and Francis, they had some pleasant conversations.

Arthur turned his green eyes back over to Alfred to see the boy was still staring at his brother.

"Things are getting pretty serious between them, aren't they?" It didn't really come out as a question, but more of a statement really. Alfred looked back over and met Arthur's eyes.

"I'm really happy for them." Alfred confessed, and he meant it too, he had a very genuine smile and tone. Arthur smiled back, slightly. As they looked at each other, there was a moment of silence between them, in which their smiles and stares seemed to linger a little too long.

"Right… well, enough about them, what about you? Mattie said you were a publisher or something?" Arthur looked away, breaking the moment. His face twitched and he hoped Alfred hadn't noticed. He cleared his throat and looked back over to the blue eyed man.

"Uhm no, right now I'm just an assistant at a publishing company. You know, working my way up to from the bottom." Arthur explained awkwardly. He was never one for small talk, especially when it was about himself.

"But you want to be a publisher, right? Like make movies and TV shows, stuff like that?" Arthur's eyebrows quirked up as he stared at Alfred bemusedly for a moment before a small chortle escaped his throat and a small smile cracked on his face. Alfred looked at him confused.

"What?" He asked.

"Uh, you're thinking of a producer. A publisher works with books." Arthur explained. Alfred looked away, his face red, and his embarrassment evident.

"Ugh, I knew that… stupid…" He muttered, mostly to himself, before looking back over to Arthur. "Egh, I guess I'm more tired than I thought. Brain Fart." Alfred said, rolling his eyes at himself. For some reason Arthur found this rather funny and before he knew it a full-blown laugh escaped his lips. Alfred looked at him amused and after a second or so laughed as well.

When Arthur was able to contain his laughter, he looked over to Alfred.

"So what about you? What're you majoring in?"

Alfred swallowed his laughter and cleared his throat, a bright smile still present on his face.

"I'm double majoring, one in theatre, and the other in advertisement."

Before Arthur could reply, however, the two were approached by Feliciano.

"Ve~ Alfie, we're running low on food! Will you come with me to the corner store to get some?" Feliciano asked, tugging Alfred's sleeve. Alfred looked over apologetically to Arthur before turning his attention to his roommate.

"What about Ludwig?" The Italian shook his head.

"No, he's trying to get Gilbert to calm down." The brunette explained. Arthur vaguely remembered a light haired man named Gilbert at the party; he was absolutely pissed and kept rambling about how awesome he was.

Alfred sighed and looked back at Arthur and mouthed a 'sorry' before smiling and turning his attention to Feliciano.

"Ok, let's go! I'll see you later Arthur." Alfred patted Arthur's upper arm in a goodbye gesture. Arthur nodded and watched him as he and Feliciano grabbed their coats and left the apartment.

Arthur stared at the door for awhile. He could always just stay here awhile and wait for Alfred to return with Feliciano. Maybe even casually offer to help him serve the food, and then they'd talk more, possibly all night, and exchange phone numbers. Perhaps a few days later one of them would call the other and they'd meet for coffee. They'd start texting each other, hang out, go to lunch and see movies. Then maybe he'd courageously hold his hand and their lips would lightly touch…

… Or he could just leave and take a cab ride home because he was afraid of the weird people that take the subway at night.

And so Arthur found himself on the streets of New York at 12:53pm, getting into a cab. As the taxi neared his apartment he thought about what would be going on at the party now. Did Ludwig ever get that drunken guy, Gilbert, to settle down? Or had Alfred and Feliciano returned from the store?

Alfred.

'_I can't believe I considered staying for him.'_ That would've been ridiculous, they hardly knew each other. Then again, doing that was how people got to know each other.

It was just stupid. Alfred was too young for him anyway. Right?

'_Right.'_

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><p>When Arthur woke up the next morning, or rather afternoon, considering that even though Arthur got home around 1:00 am, he had stayed up past 3, for reasons he was too ashamed to admit aloud.<p>

He had spent the two hours in his room on his laptop looking at Alfred's facebook page.

God! He was pathetic! He was a 23 year old man, on his way to a successful career as a publisher.

He wasn't even sure if he liked Alfred that way or not.

It's just that… Alfred intrigued him. He was charming, and handsome, and seemed genuine and friendly. Anyone would be intrigued by him. Whether they were interested in his companionship or wanted more didn't matter. Alfred just seemed like the type to attract others. Which was a good thing for Alfred; because on his facebook page it said he wanted to be an actor…

'_I need help.'_ He thought, his face twitching.

He put his thoughts of Alfred in the back of his mind, and decided that this would be one of the rare mornings where he'd switch his usual tea out for a cup of caffeinated coffee.

When he entered the joint kitchen and living room, he found Francis lying down on the couch, the TV on with the volume low.

"When did you get in?" Arthur asked. Francis craned his neck so he could look over at his roommate.

"A couple hours ago… I spent the night with _Matthieu_." Francis sat up, stretching out his limbs and cracking his back and fingers. He looked back over to see Arthur fiddling with their coffee maker.

"Make me a cup too, _s'il vous plait, mon cher?"_

Arthur nodded and made the coffee, pouring it into two mugs and joining Francis on the couch, handing him the other mug.

"_Merci."_

Arthur didn't say anything and turned his attention to the television. A commercial for some sort of shampoo was playing.

"What's on?" Arthur asked, sipping the hot, bitter liquid.

"Project Runway." Francis said. Arthur threw his head back and groaned. Francis smirked, knowing Arthur disliked the show and switched it to 'The Daily Show.' It was only a re-run anyway.

They sat in silence and sipped their coffee, watching the satire news program. When it came to a commercial break, Francis turned the volume down and looked at Arthur.

"So, did you enjoy the _parti?_ I saw you talking to Alfred before you left." Francis' tone was mischievous and Arthur didn't like it one bit.

"It was alright. Alfred seems… nice." Arthur said stiffly, he felt his hand spasm, and was thankful it wasn't the one holding his mug of hot coffee. Francis smirked.

"He asked about you when he came back, you know." Arthur refrained himself from jerking his head to look at Francis in disbelief, and instead settled for a subtle,

"Oh?"

"_Oui,_ he was wondering where you went. I told him you went home." Francis said nonchalantly. Arthur could feel the heat rising to his cheeks.

"Well… that's fine… but… I honestly don't care." Arthur confessed, sounding none too convincing. Francis rolled his eyes and eyed his roommate amusedly.

"_Bien sûr, vous __ne__"_

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><p><strong>Translations:<strong>

**S'il vous plait, mon cher? – Pleas, my dear?**

**Merci – Thank you**

**Oui – Yes**

**Parti – Party**

**Bien sûr, vous ****ne – Sure you don't**

**Well, there it is! I hope you all enjoyed it! Hope it wasn't too terrible or disappointing! Please tell me what you thought, what you liked, what hated, what you thought would happen, what you wanted to happen, tell me anything in a review! **


	5. Stars Are Yellow

**So I was originally gonna wait until I got more reviews (because I'm a review whore and I lurve reviews!) But I really wanted to update! I guess I felt a little spoiled from the mass amounts of reviews from the first and second chapters! Was the third chapter not as good?**

**Anyway, here's the fourth chapter! Hopefully it'll get more reviews than the third chapter!**

**Remember in the Prologue when I said that the pairings were USUK, Frananda, some GerIta, and one mystery pairing? Well, the mystery pairing is revealed in this chapter! YAY! You'll have to tell me what you think of it. Were you expecting it? Or were you thinking of something else? Also, you'll find out more about what happened after the Prologue. I'm saving the events that led up to it for later chapters!**

**The next chapter, chapter 5, is basically ready, but I'm not sure when I'm gonna upload it. Idk, it depends.**

**To my anonymous reviewers (and those who don't have PMs): Thank you all for taking the time to review my story! It truly does mean a lot to me! So thank you, every one of you. So thank you, AllyG, cookies111, meow, Italy Veneziano, Japa Kiku, and Mrs. Kirkland! If I missed anyone, just tell me and I'll be sure to get you next time!**

**Well, here's the next chapter! It's longer too! Hopefully it's edited enough!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Four: Stars Are Yellow<strong>

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><p>Over the next week, Arthur hadn't thought much of Alfred. He assumed it was because lately he was absolutely swamped at work. The company he was working for was currently expanding itself, bringing in new publishers and authors, and even opening up a smaller, second location. With all the new personnel though, the company had yet to bring in more assistants and interns, so the ones already there basically had double the amount of work they normally had.<p>

It had been a tiring, stressful week, full of skipped lunch breaks and working over-time. His whole routine was off and he could feel his anxiety rising, which was never good. Arthur was truly exhausted. He hadn't done much of anything besides working, sleeping, and eating (if he found the time to that is.)

Today wasn't any different, unfortunately, and Arthur found himself at some random, crowded Starbucks with a coffee order for about twelve people. On his own break, with only about fifteen minutes left before it was over, AND he was towards the end of what must've been the longest line in the eternity of ever.

'_Shoot. Me. Now.'_ He thought agitatedly, his face and fingers twitching quite frequently now that he was under stress and his anxiety was higher than normal.

"Hey, Arthur!" A voice had called out his name in the crowded room. Arthur vaguely remembered the voice, but refrained himself from looking or answering. Instead he tensed and closed his eyes, hoping the unidentified voice would go away.

"Arthur?" The voice called again. Arthur ignored it again, afraid that because of his high anxiety, one of his 'episodes' were coming.

'_If I ignore it, it'll go away. They're not real, and I'm in control. I am in control.'_ Arthur opened his eyes, now feeling slightly calmer, _slightly, _and kept his gaze ahead of him. He slowly breathed evenly in and out, and attempted to block out any voices, and ignore his twitching.

"Arthur, is that you?" Arthur cringed, his breathing hitched, and he clenched his hands.

"I'm in control." He muttered, as he looked around cautiously.

"Arthur, it's me!" A new voice emerged, joining the one already calling him. Arthur could feel his stress heightening and his breathing verging on the level of hyperventilating.

"Arthur!"

"Is that you, Arthur?"

"I haven't seen you in so long, Arthur!"

'_They're not real. I am in control.' _

"Why are you ignoring me, Arthur?"

'_I'm in control… they're not real… I-'_

"Arthur, I missed you so much!"

'_-am-'_

"Talk to me, Arthur!"

'_-in-'_

"Arthur!"

'_-control.'_

"Look at me, Arthur!"

"Hey, Arthur, it's me!"

"Arthur! I'm back!"

No. No, this could not happen. Arthur attempted to control his breathing, but failed, as it just got quicker and harder. He could feel his face heating up, and his hands become clammy. His face kept twitching and he felt his arm spasm, accidently hitting the man in front of him.

"Watch it, man!" Arthur looked up to see the man in front of him glaring. He muttered a quick apology and looked away, trying with all his might to ignore the voices. The man's glare disappeared when he noticed Arthur's distressed appearance though.

"Hey, are you ok?" The man asked, clearly concerned.

"Yeah Arthur, are you ok!"

"Are you Arthur?"

'_They're not real. They're not real. They're n-… I can't do this.' _

Arthur sucked in his breath, and turned away from the concerned man in front of him, dropping the piece of paper with the coffee orders, and bolted outside of the Starbucks, his hands pressed against his ears, trying desperately to block out voices that just got louder.

He was sure he must've looked like a madman, pacing down the street, face twitching, hands over his ears and muttering to himself.

"I am in control… they're not real… I am in control…"

"Arthur! Come back to us!"

"Arthur!"

No. They would go away eventually. He just had to go somewhere familiar. Find someone he knew. Or at least find a place he could be by himself, alone.

"Arthur, we're here for you!"

"We want to be with you Arthur!"

"Arthur!"

"Arthur?" Suddenly he felt himself run into a firm, warm body, causing him to stumble backwards as he looked up and met a pair of sky-blue eyes, hidden behind wire frames.

"A-Alfred!" Arthur sighed out of relief at the younger man. Thankful that the voices slowly faded away at the presence of a real person he knew.

"Hey, are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost or something." When Alfred asked this he had the same look and tone of concern as the man back at the Starbucks. Arthur swallowed hard and shook his head, and attempted to contain himself by trying to control his twitches and spasms.

"No, I'm fine, I just… I'm… I've just been a bit too busy lately." Arthur attempted to sound casual and believable, but had a feeling he sounded anxious and awkward. Alfred smiled, and Arthur noticed a backpack slung over his shoulder.

"Oh, are you heading to class?" Arthur asked, gesturing to the bag. Alfred looked to where Arthur pointed and shook his head.

"No, actually I just got finished with my classes for the day. I was just going to have a late lunch." Alfred said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He seemed to do that a lot. Arthur nodded, not knowing what to say.

"Do you wanna come?" Alfred asked shrugging his shoulders up, giving him an unsure look about him. Arthur looked up at the taller, younger man confused and quirked an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry?" Alfred smiled and cleared his throat.

"Uhm, I meant, do you wanna join me? For lunch, that is." Alfred clarified. Arthur's breath caught in his throat for a second and he avoided Alfred's gaze.

Technically he had to go back to work. But after what happened at the Starbucks he felt he was in no mood or shape to go back. Plus he hadn't taken his lunch break for the past week, so the company owed him, right?

At this point, though, Arthur didn't really care if it was right. He didn't feel like he would be able to work properly anyway, so why not play hooky. Besides, he was sure Yao would cover for him.

"Sure. Why not?" Alfred's smile widened.

"Great! I was just heading to McDonald's now, is that ok?" Arthur nodded even though he wasn't a big fan of fast food, he'd prefer to not be alone right now, and everyone else he knew was working.

So the two walked down the street to the McDonald's that was a few blocks away. They didn't say much. Or rather Arthur didn't say much. And instead listened to Alfred talk about some sort of science exam he had to take this morning. He would nod or occasionally put in some input, but mostly he just continued to listen to Alfred until they reached the fast food chain.

Once there they got in line. Alfred ended his story and instead perused the menu. Arthur followed suit, not sure of what to get since he never really ate here.

Once they had ordered (Arthur settling for some sort of chicken wrap and sprite, and Alfred getting a big mac and coke. They shared an order of fires.) they found a booth by a window and sat down.

"So how've you been since the party? I hadn't heard from you." Alfred asked, as he unwrapped his burger and took a bite. Arthur snatched a fry and looked at Alfred quizzically.

"I've been good. What do you mean 'you hadn't heard from me?'" Arthur asked. Alfred smiled while his brows furrowed in confusion.

"I friended and sent you a message on facebook a few days ago, but you never confirmed or replied." Alfred continued to eat his burger after he said this, leaving the Brit to stare at him awkwardly. When he didn't reply, Alfred looked at him bemused with his eyebrows raised.

"Wha?" He asked, his mouth full of food. Arthur cleared his throat and looked down at his soda.

"Nothing, uhm… like I said… earlier… I've been quite busy lately and have not had the… the time to check my email…" Well that was unbearably awkward, Arthur decided as he hesitantly looked up to see Alfred smiling at him.

"That makes sense I guess. It doesn't matter anyway, I wouldn't have been able to chat much anyway either. I've been busy too, you know with school and stuff." Alfred kept smiling even as he chewed his food and sipped his beverage. Arthur was having trouble deciding whether he thought it was endearing or annoying. Perhaps it was a little of both.

Not having anything to say, they sat and ate in silence. Alfred didn't seem too bothered by it and ate his meal happily. Arthur, however, wasn't feeling as comfortable and racked his brain for something, ANYTHING, to say or ask Alfred.

"So… erm…" Arthur sputtered, gaining the American's attention, "… you're still studying theatre? Yes?"

"Well I haven't changed my major in the last week, so yeah. I'm still majoring in advertisement too, in case you were wondering." Alfred said, teasing tone evident in his voice. Arthur rolled his eyes. For some reason Alfred had the knack for teasing him.

"Right… no need to be a snarky arse…" Arthur mumbled, but Alfred heard it anyway and laughed wholeheartedly.

"Sorry man, I didn't mean to give you a hard time or anything." Alfred smiled and Arthur blushed, looking away embarrassed.

"So why are you double majoring?" Arthur didn't really care why, but he didn't really want another awkward silence.

"Well I want to be actor! It's been my dream since, like, eighth grade. But my dad doesn't think it's a very stable career choice, so he wanted me to make sure I had a back up." Alfred seemed rather enthusiastic as he talked and he didn't even seem to hold any resentment as he talked about his father insisting on another career option. If Arthur had known Alfred better he probably would've asked about his father, but since he didn't, he decided to stick to lighter subject matter.

"Why advertisement then?"

"Well it's in the entertainment industry, and it's pretty cool. So if acting doesn't work out, I wouldn't mind going into advertisement. So what about you? Why a publisher? Publishers publish books and not movies by the way." Alfred asked cheekily towards the end, before finishing the last of his burger and moving onto the fries. Arthur looked down to his own wrap and noticed that it was barely half finished.

"I love reading, and books, but I've never been much of a writer. So I decided to become a publisher because, well, for one I'd read books for a living, or actually they'd be manuscripts, but I'd get to help make them into books. Plus I've never really been interested in much of anything else like any of the sciences or math. History and social studies are ok, I guess. But I've always preferred English and reading... Sorry, I sort of rambled there." Arthur cleared his throat and looked down at his food, stuffing some fries and a bite of his wrap down his throat so he wouldn't have to talk anymore.

"You've gotta chill, dude! Stop worrying. You've been anxious since we ran into each other on the street. Relax!" Alfred chuckled and continued to sip his coke.

'_Relax. That's easy for you to say…'_

Arthur nodded despite his high stress levels and attempted to be more "chill."

For the rest of their lunch, things were quite pleasant. Alfred led most of their conversations about basic things; like favorite colors, Arthur's was green and Alfred said he was always partial to yellow.

"Because, stars are yellow and I'm gonna be star!" Alfred said grinning and winking. Arthur laughed affectionately at him.

They talked about their favorite movies, to which Alfred began to rant about how the old, original 'Star Wars' films were the best and the new ones weren't any good. Arthur smiled and when Alfred finished ranting, told him his favorite film was 'Casablanca.'

"I've never seen it."

"What? You git! It's a classic! You need to watch it! I insist!"

Alfred asked about his favorite TV show. When Arthur told him it was 'Doctor Who' Alfred smiled widely.

"No way! That's my favorite show too! I love Tom Baker!"

They talked about 'Doctor Who' for quite a long time, like who their favorite Doctor was, which episodes were better, their favorite enemies and villains, what companions did they wish would've stuck around longer and which ones should've just never come. After they had talked so much that the subject became somewhat stretched, Alfred once again guided the conversation elsewhere. The rest of their conversation was idle chit chat about various kinds of music they liked. Alfred said he liked classic and indie rock, but was also a bit of a closet Justin Bieber fan.

"You like Justin Bieber?" Arthur asked out of disbelief. Alfred laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, I do, seriously! It's kinda like, Canadian law to like him at least a little bit. Same goes for Celine Dion." Alfred laughed as he explained himself to Arthur, who in turn smiled at the younger man.

"You've got to be joking, Celine Dion? And I didn't know you're Canadian?" Arthur asked confused as he rolled his eyes.

"Eh, technically I'm half Canadian. I was born here in the States, but when me and Mattie were nine, we moved to my dad's home-town in Ontario." As Alfred explained to Arthur, the Brit cringed and refrained from correcting the Yank's grammar.

'_It should be "Mattie and I" bloody twit.'_

They continued talking more, as well as deciding to finally leave the McDonald's. When Arthur checked the time he was surprised to see that they had been sitting in the fast food joint, talking, for nearly two hours.

As they walked down the streets, Arthur noticed how chilly the weather was getting. It was almost December, but it had yet to snow. Arthur assumed that in the next few days New York would be getting its first snow.

"Wow, I can't believe it's almost winter!" Alfred said excitedly, purposefully breathing out so he could see his breath. Arthur shrugged.

"I'm not a big fan of winter. It's too cold." Arthur grunted, pulling his jacket around him tighter.

"I love winter! The snow, hot chocolate, Christmas, New Years! Plus I get a break in school!" Alfred was practically singing out his love for the season, swinging his arms at his side and watching his breath become visible. Arthur chuckled lightly and shook his head.

"So will you be going back to Canada over your break?" Arthur asked. Perhaps if he were staying around New York they could hang out. Maybe he could show Alfred 'Casablanca'…

"Well I'll be in Canada for the first half of break to celebrate Christmas with Mattie and my dad. But on the 27th I'll be flying out to Japan for the rest of break!" Alfred said. He looked absolutely excited. His grin the widest and brightest Arthur had ever seen. Arthur quirked an eyebrow.

"Why are you flying all the way to Japan?" Arthur guessed he probably looked like a confused idiot, because Alfred giggled. Giggled! And blushed, flashing a bright, happy smile.

"I'm visiting my boyfriend, Kiku!"

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><p><strong>AH! Alfred's dating Kiku! WHAAA! What's Arthur gonna do? Also, I don't really like Justin Bieber, but I don't either, I just thought it'd be cute if Al was a bit of a J Biebs fan! Yeah, Alfred's a belieber! Somewhat… lol! Hope it wasn't too terrible! Tell me what you guys think!<strong>


	6. From Future Famous Actor, Alfred

Note: I was not aware of the violation of using song lyrics in fanfiction stories, even if they're credited to the artist and not used in the actual story. I don't agree with it and a lot of the guidelines on FanFiction. Upon reading through the guidelines, I have come to the conclusion that many of them are ridiculous, in my opinion, like not be able to write interactive stories, or have author's notes in place of a chapter, or a story in chat form. Though I don't write like that and probably never will, I think authors should have the right to. But, even though I don't agree with these guidelines, (or the people on FanFiction who've taken it upon themselves to enforce them; namely, the Critics United) I do follow and respect rules and I do not wish to violate them. I also would like to say that even though I don't agree with the Critics United, I do respect them, and place no blame on them for enforcing those guidelines(They're there for a reason, after all). I also give credit and, somewhat, admire the Critics United for they also help authors on this website become better writers by helping them with grammar and spelling.

So though I regret and don't wish to remove the lyrics I've used to open each chapter, I will be taking them down.

Since I can't post this by itself, I've re-uploaded this fifth chapter. So don't get too confused. Nothing in the chapter is different from before.

**Well here it is! Chapter five! YAY! **

**Thank you all soooooo much for all the reviews from the last chapter! I can't believe how popular this story is getting! I was soo happy with all the reviews! I haven't had time yet to reply to all of them yet, but I'll be getting onto that now that this chapter is posted!**

**And to those of you who reviewed anonymously, thank you all soooo much! It means a lot!**

**In this chapter you get to see how Arthur interacts with other friends. You know, besides Francis. **

**I'll be working on the next update, but I'm busy tomorrow so the next chapter won't be up until the end of this week. Hopefully. **

**Also, I decided to go a more humorous route for this chapter's song! I thought the lyrics somewhat, in a funny way, fit Arthur's attitude or feelings for the chapter! CX**

**Please enjoy! I hope the chapter is edited enough!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Five: From Future Famous Actor, Alfred<strong>

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><p>'<em>He has a bloody boyfriend!'<em>

When Arthur finally returned home to his apartment after his lunch with Alfred, his officially felt like crap. Not only had his work been overbearing and stressful, and he had a schizophrenic episode at Starbucks, but now he finds out Alfred has a boyfriend. In Japan! And all he could do was smile stupidly and say 'how nice!' How pathetic.

He wasn't sure why this bothered him so much. He didn't really know Alfred all too well, and he still wasn't even sure how he felt about Alfred. All he knew was that he found Alfred attractive, but he knew he was too young, he knew they had things in common and got along, but something about Alfred also bugged and annoyed him. But he also knew that there was something about Alfred that attracted him like a moth to a flame. Was he possibly, maybe, jealous?

Arthur groaned and shrugged off his coat, throwing it on his couch, deciding he would think about it later and went to his bathroom to take a shower since he wasn't able to take one this morning.

As he got ready for his shower, his eyes caught something on his sink. It was one of his several bottles of medication.

'_What is it doing out?'_ He usually left it in the medicine cabinet. He heard a knock at the door and looked over.

"Arthur? Are you home?" It was Francis. He hadn't really seen Francis at all this week, but he could still pick out the concern in his roommate's voice. Arthur opened the door to be greeted by a worried Francis.

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked. Francis didn't answer but looked at the pill bottle in Arthur's hand.

"Are you ok, Arthur?" Arthur looked at Francis, his eyes tired and withered, and he shook his head.

"It's been a long week." Arthur muttered. Francis sighed.

"I noticed you haven't taken any of your risperdal this week." Francis stated. Arthur's eyes widened and he brought the bottle up and opened it, fingering around, counting the pills.

"I-I… I must've forgotten to take it the last few days…" Well that explained what happened at Starbucks. "I have so many different… and I've been so busy… How did you know?"

"I check every few days to make sure you're not skipping out on your medication." Francis confessed. Arthur looked at him, surprised and grateful at the same time.

"Francis, why did you…?" Francis shook his head.

"I don't wish to talk about it. Just remember to take these from now on. Who knows what could happen." Arthur could tell Francis was very serious by his lack of French. Whenever Francis spoke to him in just English, Arthur knew he meant business.

"I will… thank you." Francis nodded and left, leaving Arthur standing there stunned.

'_How could I have forgotten…' _He thought regretfully as he stared at the bright orange bottle. Tightening his grip, he took out the number of pills he missed. He wasn't sure what to do with them. This was the first time he's ever forgotten to take his medication. He placed the bottle in the medicine cabinet, and swallowed the five little pills in his hand, using water from the sink's faucet, and looked at himself in the mirror.

'_This just hasn't been our week, has it?'_

When he finally took his shower, his mind began to drift to Francis. (EW! Not in that way!) Since the two had first met during their freshmen year at NYU, having been assigned as each other's dorm mates, Francis had always been very supportive, and helpful, and understanding of his schizophrenia. He had often tried to ask Francis why and when he did he always got the same answer.

I don't wish to talk about it.

Arthur often wondered what it was that he didn't wish to talk about, but never pressed the subject. Some things were better left un-said, and there were definitely things he didn't want to talk about.

**Five years ago**

Numb. All Arthur felt was numb.

He struggled as he slowly opened his eyes to find white.

'_Am I dead?'_ He thought, as he looked around, only to see more, bright, white. As his eyes adjusted and he became more aware of his surroundings, he heard the sound of monitors, and people talking.

When he looked closer he saw his mother and a doctor speaking softly to each other.

"M-mum…?" His voice was tired, soft, and a bit hoarse. Upon hearing her son's voice, his mother whipped her head in his direction and rushed to side. Almost immediately did he feel her soothing, cool fingers on his forehead, gently running along his skin and into his hair.

"Arthur, darling, are you alright?" Her voice was laced with worry, and her hazel eyes were the saddest he'd ever seen them.

'_Sadder than when dad…'_

"Where am I?" He asked, instead of responding to her question.

"The hospital. You've been unconscious for twelve hours." Arthur nodded and leaned into his mother's touch, closing his eyes and taking in the comfort.

"I'm so glad you're awake…" His mother whispered softly, placing a kiss on her son's forehead. Arthur winced at her words, feeling horrible for the pain he's caused her. Holding back his tears, he reached up and grabbed her dainty hand.

"I'm so sorry, mum."

**Present day**

When Arthur had entered the living room, freshly showered and now dressed in some more casual, comfy clothes, he found Matthew and Francis cuddling on the couch watching the television.

"_Mon cher_, there you are! Would you like to join us? We're watching a _film?_" Francis asked once he'd spotted Arthur. Arthur was hesitant for a moment, recalling the serious moment they shared less than an hour ago.

"I don't want to intrude." Arthur said, about to turn back to head into his room, but Francis gave him a look telling him everything was fine.

"We don't mind!" Francis insisted. Matthew smiled and gestured to the open space on the couch.

"Yeah, come join us!" Arthur smiled and sat down next to the couple and looked at the screen to see the DVD menu for 'Pride and Prejudice.'

"Hey, so Alfred told me you guys had lunch today." Matthew said, turning his attention to the Brit. Arthur glanced at Francis who was looking at him and smirking, before looking back to Matthew.

"Yes, we did. It was nice." Arthur looked back over to Francis, giving him a warning look not to say anything.

"I bet you thought it was very 'nice' _n'avez vous pas_?" Francis then proceeded to laugh stereotypically French-like, causing Matthew to elbow him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Matthew asked confused and a bit defensively, probably because his brother was the subject.

"_Rien, rien, _I just suspect that Arthur is _interesses_ in more than… friendship… with Alfred." Arthur groaned and smacked his forehead, but he wasn't sure if it was because he was aggravated or just a spasm. Matthew looked at both Arthur and Francis bewildered.

"What? Arthur, do you like Alfred?" Matthew questioned. Arthur inwardly groaned, and sent Francis a look that said 'don't you dare say anything or I'll kill you, you frog!' Francis shook his head amused and smirked. Arthur sighed and looked back at Matthew.

"No, I don't. Francis just likes to assume things and make an arse of himself." Arthur explained, during the last part he glared at Francis.

"That's good. It'd be no use if you did like him. Alfred's already in a relationship." Once this was said, it was Francis' turn to look bewildered.

"_Quoi? _Since when? He's never mentioned anything to _moi_, and his facebook doesn't say he's in a _relation._ _"_ Matthew just shrugged at Francis' confusion.

"Contrary to what most people think, but Alfred is actually very private when it comes to his relationships." As Matthew explained this, Francis pouted his lips, while Arthur tried to keep himself from feeling upset at hearing more about Alfred's boyfriend.

"Its long distance, so sometimes I even forget he's in one." Matthew chuckled as he said this, apparently not sensing that Francis was disappointed and that Arthur was… well Arthur wasn't sure what he was feeling.

"Right, well let's start the movie, shall we?" Arthur, really not wanting to continue the conversation, picked up the remote from the coffee table and pushed play. Matthew, who still hadn't noticed the awkward mood, simply nodded and smiled, and leaned back against Francis, who kept furtively glancing at Arthur.

Arthur didn't notice though, for he was on his phone, checking his facebook for the first time this week, where he found Alfred's friend request and message.

**To: Arthur**

**Hey remember me? U were at me and my roommates party friday night. Im Francis' bf's twin bro Alfred! What's up?**

**From future famous actor,**

**Alfred.**

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><p>The next day Arthur sluggishly got out of bed, getting ready with extra attention today to make sure he didn't miss anything. Like his pills. He decided to skip breakfast and get a bagel and coffee in the break room at the office later.<p>

Waving over his shoulder to Francis who was tiredly making his own breakfast, and left; he caught his usual train and was at his office building within thirty minutes and arrived at work right on time.

The first couple hours of the day were normal, some new interns and assistants were starting today, so his work load was almost back to normal.

Arthur could only hope his psyche would follow suit.

Last night had been brutal. After the movie with Matthew and Francis he excused himself and went to bed. As he laid there in the dark he struggled to fall asleep. Not only was his mind cluttered with thoughts of, oh so unavailable, Alfred. But he kept hearing familiar voices as well. Voices that weren't real, that shouldn't have been there. They were definitely fainter and weaker than they were at the Starbucks, but that didn't really comfort him. He did eventually sleep a few hours, and when he awoke the voices were gone.

Unfortunately they had come back, albeit quiet and soft, but they had left him feeling disturbed as he tried to push them away.

So there he was in the break room, slowly eating a bagel and sipping a cup of coffee, while checking his phone for email. Last night he had confirmed Alfred's friend request, but had refrained from replying to his message. Today he found a new message from Alfred. Reluctantly he opened the email.

**To: Arthur**

**Lunch was fun! We shuld do it again sometime! Srry if things got weird twards the end…**

**From future famous actor,**

**Alfred**

Arthur felt a blush creep onto his cheeks, as he was about to reply, it suddenly dawned on him that the 'things that got weird' was when Alfred told him about his boyfriend, and stopped, putting the message away for later, at a time where he felt he could deal with it, and returned to eating his bagel.

"Arthur! Where were you yesterday, aru? You're lucky I covered for you with Roderich!" Arthur looked up to see his friend, Yao, standing in the doorway of the break room, with an annoyed, yet at the same time, worrisome expression on his face.

"Sorry… I had a bit of a… 'Episode' at the Starbucks… what'd you tell Roderich?" Arthur looked at the Asian man apologetically as he explained himself. Yao nodded and took the empty seat next to him.

"I told him your mother had an emergency and that you had to go to New Jersey, aru." Arthur sighed out of relief.

"Thank you so much Yao, I owe you!" Yao smiled and shrugged his shoulders up when Alfred said this.

"I know, aru… now tell me, where were you?" Arthur sighed, knowing that when Yao wanted to know something, he'd insist and badger you until you'd shoot yourself.

"After my 'episode' at Starbucks, I went out to lunch with my roommate's boyfriend's twin brother… it didn't end well." Arthur cringed as he explained; he could feel the blush creeping onto his cheeks.

"Was it a date?" Arthur shrugged and looked down at his bagel.

"At first I thought it was just lunch… but then… I don't know, I thought it was something more." Arthur groaned embarrassed by his words and took a giant swig of coffee. Too bad for Arthur, though, that he forgot how scolding hot his beverage was. His face turned bright red as his eyes became as wide as plates.

"For goodness sakes, just swallow it, aru!" Arthur nodded and quickly gulped the rest of the liquid down his throat, panting heavily, hoping to air out his burnt tongue and mouth. After a moment of looking like an idiot, he closed his mouth and groaned, crossing his arms on the table and burying his head into them.

"Why does life hate me?" He grunted, peaking a green eye out and up towards Yao. Yao smiled and rolled his eyes.

"So what happened on the rest of the lunch 'date?'" Yao asked, putting finger quotations around 'date.' Arthur sighed and lazily leaned back into his chair and stared at the ceiling.

"Ugh… he told me he had… a boyfriend… in _Japan_."

"Ouch…" Yao placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder in an attempt to comfort his friend.

"Yeah." Toa sighed and patted Arthur's shoulder and got up from the table.

"Well forget him. There are plenty of other guys, Arthur. Ones who are single without boyfriends in foreign countries." Arthur nodded and Yao left the break room. Scarfing down the rest of his bagel Arthur got back to work.

The whole day, though, all he could think about was how to reply to Alfred's message.

* * *

><p><strong>I know, I know! I wish Alfred would've actually been in the chapter too! I promise he'll be in the next chapter. Maybe he'll explain his ominous message "Srry if things got weird twards the end…" What could he mean? Why did he think things were weird? Who knows! I hope you guys liked this chapter!<strong>


	7. Unintentional Teases & Dirty Hypocrites

**Ok, so here is the next update! I would've updated yesterday, but I was busy. I went to see some movies with my buds! Lol. Uhm… So with this chapter, we get some insight on Alfred and his intentions and what not. Plus, I felt he hasn't been in the story as much as I wanted him to be in the last few chapters. I also really, really, really wanted to write some interaction between Matthew and Alfred!**

**Thank you all for the reviews! When I originally started this story I was hoping to get at least 50 reviews by the time I finished the story. And wow! You guys are all so great!**

**To my anonymous reviewers, those who don't PM: AllyG, cookies111, meow, Italy Veneziano, Japa Kiku, Mrs. Kirkland, caca, muroki chan, 3, mentally insane anon, D, and A Person. Thank you, tahnk you, thank you all so much! It means a lot! If I've missed anyone, sorry!**

**Uhm… as for the next chapter… It depends on my time management of this week and next week, and as always, my updates are semi-based on the feedback of the most recent chapter. But usually I'll eventually update despite disatifaction with the amounts of reviews. Because reviews don't inspire the story or writing, they just inspire a faster/quicker update. Ok, enough of this, on to other things.**

**I realized I forgot to put the French translations of the last chapter, so here they are now!**

**Rien, rien – Nothing, nothing**

**Quoi – What**

**Moi – I**

**Film – Movie**

**Inetresses – Interested**

**N'avez vous pas****? – Did you not?**

**Relation – Relationship**

**I also forgot to tell you Yao's age. He is 25.**

**Well I hope you guys like this chapter! I hope it's not too bad and I hope it's edited enough!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Six: The Unintentional Tease and the Dirty Hypocrite<strong>

* * *

><p>Alfred was definitely not the most perceptive guy around. He was actually pretty oblivious. Not that he was aware of that though; which is why he didn't realize that at his party, when he was talking to Arthur, his body language and vibes were a tad too welcoming. It's why he didn't think his facebook messages were a bit too friendly. His obliviousness is also why he never caught on to the date-like, flirty atmosphere that Arthur felt, and ruined it by confessing he had a boyfriend, and failed to see that Arthur was disappointed and upset.<p>

Yeah, Alfred wasn't perceptive at all. Which is why he was extremely shocked when Matthew told him this:

"So Francis thought Arthur had a thing for you, weird, right?" Alfred's eyes widened slightly and a blush emitted onto his features. Matthew ignored his reaction and sat down next to him on their futon.

Arthur having a thing for him? Yes, it definitely was weird.

"Yeah totally! Why would he think that?" Alfred asked, very confused, whenever he had spoken or hung out with Arthur, he had given him no signs that he liked him. None he could see at least.

"I don't know… but, actually… now that I about it… it does kinda seem like Arthur likes you." Matthew said with a vague look on his face, as he recalled moments with Arthur. Alfred just looked at his brother skeptically.

"Whatever, man."

"I'm serious! I mean, at our party he was awkward almost the whole time until you started talking to him!" Matthew said his eyes a bit too excited for Alfred's taste.

"No way, that doesn't prove anything!" Alfred said defensively. He hated talking about this kind of stuff, especially when he had a boyfriend.

"What about when you guys went to lunch the other day? Francis told me Arthur almost NEVER goes out with people he doesn't know well!" Alfred faltered slightly when this was said.

"That's because… that because I'm awesome!" Alfred said grinning. Matthew rolled his eyes.

"You sound like Gilbert." Matthew muttered. Before either of them could say anything else, Alfred's phone pinged. Alfred dug the blackberry out of his pocket.

"What is it?" Matthew leaned forward and peered over his brother's shoulder. An email alert from facebook saying he had a message. From Arthur.

"Here's another reason! He's talking to you on facebook!" Matthew said, Alfred rolled his eyes.

"Let me guess, Francis told you Arthur NEVER does that, so it must mean he's in love with me!" Alfred said sarcastically as he shoved his brother away and went to answer the message on facebook.

"Besides, I'm the one who messaged him first." Matthew's eyes widened and he snatched the phone out of his brother's hand, earning him an irritated "Hey!"

"What are you doing?" Alfred asked annoyed. Matthew ignored him and looked through his brother's messages.

"Knowing you, you're probably unintentionally leading him on…" Matthew mumbled.

"What? When have I EVER-"

"Ninth grade, with the Russian exchange student, Ivan. He stalked you for a month." Matthew said. Alfred gaped at his brother.

"That was one time! Besides, Ivan was already weird!" Matthew rolled his eyes.

"Then what about his sister, Natalia? She made a shrine of you in her closet. Then there was Vash, who threatened anyone who came near you, Tino, who sent you all those crazy gifts and wrote songs for you EVERY day, and let's not forget Antonio, who cried for weeks when you started dating Kiku. Face it, you're a tease. An unintentional tease." Matthew said, uncharacteristically harsh. Alfred was about to protest, but Matthew spoke up again upon finding the messages to Arthur.

"I did not lead any of them on! Besides, everything worked out with Antonio! If it weren't for me he would've never met Feli's brother!"

"Aha! You have been leading him on! 'Arthur, hey remember me!' 'Arthur, lunch was fun! We should do it again sometime!'" Matthew said, reading the messages in a breathless, seductive voice. Alfred rolled his eyes.

"AH, c'mon! Anything sounds flirty when you say it like _that!"_ Alfred said exasperatedly as he tried to make a grab for the phone. Matthew pulled it away and kept scrolling through the messages.

"Oh! Then what about this one?" Once again in his flirty, breathy voice, Matthew read the message.

"'Hey! Casablanca was on TV last night, and I thought of you! We should _totally _hang out sometime and watch it!' What is wrong with you?" Matthew violently threw the phone back at Alfred, who clumsily caught it.

"Nothing! I'm just being friendly!" Alfred said defensively. Matthew rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, _too _friendly! Are you really this oblivious? No wonder Arthur likes you." Matthew scolded his brother, who was visibly irritated.

"He doesn't like me…" Alfred insisted and looked at his phone, finally able to see what Arthur wrote back to his 'Casablanca' message.

**To: Alfred**

**Maybe, if I find time in my schedule. I've been pretty busy. Let's talk about it when we meet for coffee tomorrow.**

**~Arthur**

"So who set up the coffee date?" Matthew asked suspiciously. Alfred looked away embarrassedly.

"He asked me," Matthew gave him a smug look "only because I said we should hang out! And it's not a date! I'd never do that to Kiku!" Matthew sighed.

"I know. But I also know you can't read people. So be careful with the message you send out!" With that said, Matthew got up from the futon and left.

"Whatever." Alfred mumbled and began to reply to the message. As he typed on his phone Matthew popped his head back into the room.

"By the way, stop signing off messages with 'from future famous actor.' It's obnoxious and pretentious." Alfred rolled his eyes and threw one of the futon's pillows at his head.

"Shut up!"

* * *

><p>"What do you think you are doing, <em>mon cher<em>?" Arthur looked up from his book to see Francis holding his phone in front of Arthur's face. On closer inspection, Arthur could see that it was a text message from Matthew.

**Matthew:**

**I think ur right. Arthur might like Alfred. They're going out for coffee but it's not a 'date' :/**

Arthur looked up at Francis defensively.

"It's just coffee. I don't like him. He has a boyfriend." Arthur said, almost as if he had it prepared. Francis looked at him skeptically.

"_Vraiment? _Then what does _cela signifie?" _Francis accused, scrolling to another message and once again shoved his phone in Arthur's face.

**Matthew:**

**Arthur asked Alfred.**

"Only because he said we should hang out!" Arthur said defensively, his face twitched as he tried to hold down his blush.

"_Hypocrite. __Vous êtes__un hypocrite_." Francis said, pointing his finger accusingly. Arthur rolled his eyes.

"How am I a hypocrite?"

"Just the other week you told me _Mathieu_ was too young for _moi_! Now here you are _aller après _his twin brother! Who's taken _pourrais-je ajouter? L'hypocrisie__, ton __nom est_ Arthur!_" _Arthur glared at Francis and crossed his arms.

"That… that is totally different!" Francis rolled his eyes.

"How is it any different?"

"B-because… because you're older than me!" Arthur stated.

"By six and a half months!" Francis said in protest. Arthur scrunched his face up, flustered.

"Yes well… Alfred is also the older twin!" Francis' mouth went agape as Arthur said this.

"Face it, Arthur, you're a dirty hypocrite!_"_ Arthur shook his head and groaned.

"You know what? No, I am not a dirty hypocrite, because there is nothing going on between Alfred and me, because he has a boyfriend, and I am not interested." Francis rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"You're a _horrible_s liar." Francis stated and turned to leave. As he walked away Arthur attempted to stammer out a comeback.

"Well you're a horrible… a horrible…. You know what you a-are-are… you're a horrible… damn, he's gone."

* * *

><p><strong>Translations:<strong>

**Vraiment -Really**

**Cela signifie – This mean**

**Hypocrite. ****Vous êtes****un hypocrite -**** Hypocrite****. ****You are****a****hypocrite**

**Moi - I**

**Aller après – Going after**

**Pourrais-je ajouter – Might I add**

**L'hypocrisie****, ton ****nom est – Hypocrisy, thy name is**

**Horribles – Horrible**

**Well there it is! Sorry it was so short. Like I said up above, the next update will come depending on my time and the feedback from this chapter, I'll be working on it though, but if people seem interested in the story and this chapter, I'll try to make myself work faster. Anyway, I hope you guys liked this! I hope it wasn't too horrible. I also hope Matthew and Francis were good as voices of reason. Especially when it came to Alfred, I know how his actions have been annoying to you guys! Lolz.**


	8. Mint and Mountain Dew

**Well, I just have to say that I am awesome at my time management! Seriously guys! I am AWESOME at updating! I've done the math and on average, I update every other day! Fo shizzle! I guess you guys are just such great readers and reviewers that I feel the need to write and update as much as possible! C: Lol. I love you guys!**

**Now, I would like to take this moment to have a little freak out, celebration. Ahem:**

**OMG! I'VE MADE IT TO 100 REVIEWS! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I FEEL SO HAPPY! I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH! YOU'RE AWESOME! I COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU(LITERALLY)! And, as for the person who was lucky and gracious enough to give me my 100****th**** review, I'd like to give a special shout out to, **

**Naomi Hansen!**

**She's awesome! And she put my story in her community for Hetalia stories with 100+ reviews! I feel so special! Lol.**

**Ok, onto this chapter. I hope this chapter doesn't make you guys mad! Just promise to read the whole thing before you send me your 'WTF' reviews!**

**Also, keep in mind that Alfred is a stubborn idiot, but also devoted and in love with Kiku, so he doesn't think Arthur likes him despite what Mattie told him. **

**Anyway, I think I edited enough. If not, I'm sorry! Please read and enjoy and send some feedback!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Seven: Mint and Mountain Dew<strong>

* * *

><p>The strong smell of coffee lingered in the small little coffee shop where Arthur planned to meet Alfred for coffee. Soft jazz played in the background, and a calm, cool atmosphere pervaded the air.<p>

Arthur had gotten there early and had grabbed a table by the window in the corner. He had a few minutes before Alfred got here. The coffee shop was only a few blocks away from NYU, and the boy's classes were supposedly done by this time of day.

The Brit sat and enjoyed the peaceful surroundings and checked his phone. No new emails or texts, besides the one Francis had sent him while he was on the subway.

**Francis:**

**B careful he has a bf!**

To which Arthur had agitatedly replied,

**Arthur:**

**I don't like him, you twit!**

Francis, thankfully, hadn't replied.

As he waited for Alfred, Arthur began to think about his conversation with Francis from the other day. Apparently now Matthew was also suspicious of him, and thought he held feelings for his twin brother. But if Matthew thought that, would he mention it to Alfred? Arthur knew the brothers were close. Matthew had told during one of their random conversations while Francis wasn't around. More importantly, if Matthew told his suspicions to Alfred, what would Alfred do? Would he believe him? If he did, would he act differently towards him? Arthur wasn't sure. He just wished Francis and Matthew would give up on this stupid idea that he liked Alfred as more than just a friend.

"Hey, Arthur!" He looked up and saw said boy walking towards him, wearing a coat and scarf because of the colder weather they'd recently been having. Alfred arrived at the table putting his backpack on the ground, and his coat on the back of the chair.

"Alfred… hi." Arthur greeted awkwardly as Alfred sat across from him.

"Did I keep you waiting for long?" Alfred asked, a curious look adorning his features causing Arthur to blush slightly.

"U-uhm, no. Not at all." Arthur looked away for moment before bringing his attention back to Alfred.

"So, would you like to go order?" Arthur asked, making a move to get up, gesturing towards the counter. Alfred smiled.

"Yeah, but first… can I just ask you something?" Alfred seemed rather shy and hesitant as he asked. Arthur nodded and sat back in his seat, focusing on the man before him.

"What is it?" Arthur asked nervously. Alfred's face flushed and he looked at his hands as he writhed them around each other. Slowly he looked up, a shy expression on his face and uttered the very last thing Arthur wanted to hear.

"Do you like me?"

A small noise resonated in Arthur's throat as he felt his whole form become frozen. Alfred sucked in a breath and blew it out quickly, closing his eyes as if waiting for the impact of a punch.

"Because I like you!" He sputtered out quickly before Arthur had the chance to respond. Both Alfred and Arthur blushed a crimson red, neither saying anything.

"What a- What about… your boy… boyfriend?" Arthur asked. Alfred sighed and shrugged his shoulders up.

"I broke up with him… I know this is sudden, and we haven't known each other for very long, but… I wanna be with you." Alfred lifted his hand and reached across to grasp Arthur's hand in his. His bright green eyes widened as they met Alfred's sky blue ones.

"Wh-what?" Arthur could barely stammer. What was going on? Alfred must be teasing him or something.

"Are you making fun of me?" Arthur asked suspiciously, about to take his hand out of Alfred's. The younger man held on tighter though.

"No, I'm not… I really like you, Arthur!" Alfred said, sounding so earnest that Arthur felt his heart skip a beat.

"So… do you like me?" Alfred asked shyly. Arthur could vaguely register that he had nodded as he squeezed Alfred's hand.

"Y-yes… yes, of course I do." He muttered. Alfred smiled and leaned forward across the table, tugging Arthur's hand, signaling him to move forward as well. He could feel Alfred's breath on his lips; it smelt like mint and mountain dew, making him smile.

"Arthur…" Alfred mumbled oh so softly, he was so close that Arthur could feel his lips grace his lightly, but not quite touching either.

"Yes, Alfred?" Arthur asked, closing his eyes, waiting for the gap between their lips to close.

"Wake up."

Arthur abruptly opened his eyes and pulled away from Alfred.

"What?" He asked, absolutely confused. Alfred smiled.

"I said wake up!" Alfred said a bit louder. Arthur blinked, not sure what to say.

"_Mon cher! _WAKE UP!" Suddenly Arthur felt something being pulled off his body. Opening his eyes, he found himself in his room, on his bed, the lighting dim, but there was light creeping in from the blinds over his window. Looking around, he found Francis by his bedside, looking positively annoyed and holding his comforter.

'_It was a dream?' _He couldn't believe it. It had seemed so real. He had really thought he had smelled the coffee from the cafe, and mint and mountain dew on Alfred's breath. He could've sworn that he had really held Alfred's hand, and that his lips graced his.

"_Qu'est-ce_ are you still doing in bed?" Francis asked, clearly annoyed. Arthur groaned and looked over to the alarm clock on his bed-side table. 12:48, that couldn't be right.

"Ugh… why didn't my alarm go off?" Arthur asked, mostly to himself as he tiredly rubbed the sleep and eye crust from his eyes. Francis sighed.

"You're lucky _J'ai _was here to notice _vous _hadn't left or had even gotten up yet." Francis said smugly. Arthur looked at him confused, causing the Frenchmen to sigh again.

"Your 'not a date' coffee date with Alfred is today. _Au _1:30. _Mieux de se dépêcher_ or you'll be late." Arthur's eyes widened. How could he have forgotten that that was today? Well, apparently his subconscious hadn't.

"Fuck… thanks." Arthur muttered as he sprang out of his bed, and pushed Francis out.

"I need to get dressed, so go! And keep the perverted innuendoes to yourself!" Before Francis could reply, Arthur shut and locked his door, hurriedly grabbing clothes and changing, spraying himself multiple times with his fabreeze fabric refresher on account of not having time to shower and the fact that he didn't own any cologne.

'_It'll have to do I guess.' _He thought as he rushed towards the bathroom to brush his teeth and take his pills. After gargling some mouth wash, he spit it out, grabbed his wallet, and hastily put on his coat and converse, and ran out the door, hoping it wasn't too late to catch a subway.

As he ran down the street, his mind began to think about his dream. Why had he dreamed that? Maybe he really did like Alfred. It was definitely very plausible. Were Francis and Matthew right?

He didn't really want to dwell on the dream too much. He sighed out of relief when he just barely made his way onto a subway train that would take him to a stop that was a few blocks from the café` they were meeting at. It was walking distance from NYU, so Alfred would be able to walk over there when he finished his classes, like he did in the dream.

'_Stop thinking about it.' _Arthur scolded, checking the time on his phone. 1:22.

'_Bloody hell!' _He was going to be late. At least it'd only be by a few minutes, ten tops. Should he text Alfred? Or just tell him his excuse when he got there? Before he could decide his phone pinged. Looking at it, he found a text from Alfred.

**Alfred:**

**Had 2 tlk 2 a prof aftr class. runin late sry :P**

Arthur sighed relieved, and blushed at their similar situations before quickly typing out a reply.

**Arthur:**

**Don't worry about it. I am too. :]**

Before he pressed send, Arthur rolled his eyes at himself when he realized he had actually typed a smiley. He never did that. He quickly erased it, embarrassed for himself and pushed the send button. Before he even had the chance to pocket his phone though, a reply from Alfred came.

**Alfred:**

**Kewlio C;**

Deciding not to reply, he stuffed his phone in his pocket and waited for the train to stop.

When it finally did he hurried off and ran out of the subway station, barely registering the fact that he heard his named being called.

"Arthur!"

As he power walked through the busy streets of New York, he kept his mind so focused on getting to the coffee shop, so he wouldn't think about his dream.

"Hey, Arthur."

There it was again. And this time Arthur knew for sure what it was.

'_No. Not today. Not now!' _He thought desperately as he heard the voice grow louder. He pushed it too the back of his mind, but he could still faintly hear it calling him.

A few more joined in, but Arthur was able to keep them quiet. Hopefully he'd be able to ignore them while he was with Alfred.

When he finally arrived at the coffee shop, he saw Alfred standing near the front counter, waiting, backpack over his shoulder and hands stuffed in his coats pocket. When the boy spotted Arthur he smiled and waved him over. Arthur waved back and quickly made his way over.

"Hey, Arthur, how're you?" Alfred asked, getting in the short line. Arthur stood beside him.

"Pretty good. And you?" Arthur said shrugging.

"Same." Alfred then smiled and looked over to see the barista waiting to take their order.

When they got their orders, Alfred got a latte and a sprinkled doughnut, and Arthur got a Ceylon tea with a scone, they took a seat at a corner table by a window.

'_Like the dream…'_ Arthur recalled shyly.

"Arthur, you can tell me about your dream." The Brit stifled a shudder and ignored the voice, turning his attention to his 'not date.'

"Ugh, I can't wait for winter break! I'm so sick of my classes." Alfred said groaning exaggeratedly. Arthur lowly chuckled.

"And I can't wait to see my dad either! Me and Mattie haven't seen him since the semester started!" Alfred said rambling as he broke his doughnut into smaller pieces, taking one and dunking it into his latte before popping it into his mouth.

Arthur smiled, but gave Alfred an odd look. Though family rarely came up in their conversations, when it did, Alfred only ever mentioned his father or Matthew. He supposed it wasn't really his business, after all, he never said anything about his family members. Not even his mother. But he couldn't help but wonder…

"What about your mother?" Arthur asked abruptly, before he could filter himself. Alfred's eyes widened slightly and he awkwardly coughed and choked on his doughnut.

"Arthur, why would you ask that?" A voice asked, but Arthur ignored it. Well he tried to at least.

Arthur took note of how sullen and dark Alfred looked for a brief moment before quickly composing himself.

"I uh… I don't have a mother." Alfred mumbled. Arthur made an awkward O with his mouth and looked away, deciding the subject was too tender to further question it. So he just mumbled a 'sorry.'

"It's s'ok." Alfred said, with the attempt at a chipper smile. Arthur almost bought it, but he knew masked smiles all too well, and saw right through it.

"Hey Arthur, why don't you ditch him and hang out with us? He's just gonna bum you out!"

"Hey, are you ok? Look a little… freaked." Alfred asked, noticing Arthur's tense posture and paled face. Arthur swallowed and nodded, continuing to ignore the voices.

"Yeah… Sorry, I must've spaced out." Arthur said a small smile on his face, hoping it would make him sound more convincing. Alfred seemed to buy it and the subject was dropped.

'_I guess his inability to read the atmosphere is good for something.'_

"So, did you end up watching 'Casablanca' when you saw on the Telly?" Arthur asked. Alfred smiled and shook his head, taking a sip of his latte before answering.

"Nah… it was already ten minutes into it. Plus I thought it'd be fun if we watched it, y'know, since it's your favorite movie and all." Arthur blushed and looked down into his tea.

"That's so sweet! You've found a good one, Arthur!" The voices were becoming more frequent and prominent. They were much harder to ignore at this point and Arthur actually caught himself about to look in the direction of the voices.

'_They're not real. I'm in control.' _He said to himself before turning back to Alfred.

"That'd be nice. I'm free Saturday." Arthur said a bit hesitantly. Alfred grinned.

"Isn't this cute! Little Artie's making a date!" Arthur shuddered slightly and hoped Alfred hadn't noticed.

"Yeah? Me too!" Alfred said, apparently not having sensed Arthur's clear discomfort.

"Are you gonna fuck him, Arthur? Are ya?"

"I bet you want too!" Arthur jerked, his face twitching and he could feel his leg spasm-ing under the table, accidently kicking Alfred's shin.

"Ow!" Alfred groaned and leaned his arm down to rub his shin. Arthur looked away.

"Are you ok? Did I do something?" Alfred asked, obviously concerned and confused as to why Arthur would randomly kick him.

"Sorry… I didn't mean too. I understand if you don't want to-"

"No! It's ok, don't worry about it man." Alfred said, sounding genuinely forgiving and nice. Arthur grimaced before looking over to him.

"Thanks… sorry again." Arthur muttered, sounding anxious and shaky. Alfred quirked an eyebrow at him in worry.

"C'mon Arthur! Look at us!"

"Don't you miss us?"

"We can help you win over your stupid little boy toy!"

"Are you sure you're alright? You look really pale and you keep twitching…" Alfred said, voicing his worried observations. Before Arthur could answer though, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Hesitantly he looked and saw an all too familiar face that belonged to an all too familiar voice. A face he hadn't seen in years.

He froze, his mouth hanging open agape, face pale, sweaty, and twitching; strangled sounds emitting from his dry throat and mouth.

"Arthur, what're you lookin' at?" Alfred asked, confused when he saw his friend staring at nothing and looking completely shocked.

Arthur didn't respond, too shocked to. This had been the first time in almost three years since he'd actually seen an old hallucination (usually when he had episodes that involved visual hallucinations they'd be new.). But this was the first time since that night five years ago, that he could physically feel them touching him.

This couldn't be happening.

He felt dizzy, his mind becoming hazy.

"Arthur, are you ok?" Alfred asked, positively worried and freaked out, but Arthur couldn't even register his voice. The young man's real voice was being drowned out by the fake ones.

Arthur saw everything become blurry and fuzzy, and he could feel his body wobbling.

"Arthur, what's going on? You're scarring me, man!" Alfred was officially freaking out, standing and leaning across the table to grab the Brit's arms, but it was no use, Arthur still didn't respond.

He could see everything becoming darker, feel everything becoming number, hear everything becoming duller.

But then, suddenly, there was nothing but silence and blackness.

"ARTHUR!"

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><p><strong>Translations:<strong>

**Qu'est-ce - What**

**J'ai - I**

**Au - At**

**Mieux de se dépêcher - Better hurry**

**Cliffhanger! That's right! Cliffhanger! I hope you guys aren't pissed off about Arthur's dream, or are confused by his schizophrenic freak out. Once again, thank you guys for giving me 100 great reviews! Each one made me smile! The long ones, the short ones, the anonymous! All of 'em! I love you all so much! Ok, done being creepy now! Hope to hear your feedback! **


	9. One Pile of Grass

**So I was originally planning on having this be twice as long, because I was going to include Alfred's reactions and thoughts to what happened. But as I was reading through the first part, I thought it would read better to stand on it's own. So sorry for the shortness.**

**I will be working on a chapter that focuses on Alfred and his thoughts and feelings from the last chapter. It'll be the next update (whenever that is). **

**Anyway, please enjoy. Also, I'm really on the edge about the flashback, so if you guys could, tell me in your reviews if you liked it or not! I was trying to go for a poetic feel for the first part of it!**

**I had some feedback saying that the French was a little off last chapter. I've been using google translate. If anyone knows a better translator, please tell me!**

**I hope I edited this enough!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Eight: One Pile of Grass<strong>

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><p><strong>8 years ago<strong>

Today it smelt like rain, even though the sun was out and the clouds were white and few.

It smelt like rain even though the ground was dry, and the air wasn't humid or wet.

It smelt like rain because to Arthur Kirkland, rain was associated with sadness.

It had rained when he was five, on the day the girl he had a crush on called him icky and weird.

It rained when he was seven, when he was riding his bike home and crashed, breaking his leg.

It rained when he was twelve, when the doctors found a malignant tumor in his father's brain.

It rained when he was thirteen on the day his father started chemo.

It drizzled cats and dogs when he was fourteen and the doctors said his father only had six months to live

It sprinkled lightly all day on his fifteenth birthday, when he and his mother sat by his father side all day, and then watched and cried as he took his very last breath, hearing him say "I love you" one last time.

But today it didn't rain. On all the days it should've rained, it didn't. The day of his father's funeral… it was beautiful and sunny, with god-damn song birds chirping; a butterfly even had the gall to make an appearance and land itself on Arthur's shoulder.

Arthur wanted it to rain; if it rained it would be like the earth was mourning his father's death. But instead the weather was perfect. Like it didn't even care that he and his mother had lost one of the people they loved most.

The whole service Arthur barely listened to the pastor giving the sermon. He could care less about some crack-pot rambling about how the 'Lord' works in mysterious ways, and how his father was now in a better place. As far as he was concerned, there was no Lord. When his godfather got up to give the eulogy(on account of Arthur and his mother being too distraught to be able to give a speech.) Arthur let his ears perk up and listen closely to his father's best friend.

He could hear his mother sniffling and squeezed her hand tighter, handing her his handkerchief.

He listened to his godfather talk about he and his father met in the service. How he introduced his father and mother at some crappy bar, and that his father basically made an ass of himself in trying to make her laugh.

Arthur smiled lightly when he heard his mother give a small laugh at the memory.

Then his godfather spoke about the day his father found out his mother was pregnant. How his father was so happy and scared, and wouldn't talk about anything else for weeks besides his future son or daughter.

Arthur could feel his eyes get wet when his godfather looked directly at him and said how much his father loved his family, how if his father had to choose one day to live over and over, he'd choose the day Arthur was born.

When the service was finished and everyone went to the Kirkland's home for the reception. His mother's friends and sisters all brought multiply casseroles and baked goods for the reception, and most people gathered in the family room to eat and swap stories about his father.

Arthur, not wanting any company went to their small backyard and sat down on the ground, mindlessly pulling grass out and placing them into a pile. He wished he was back at their old home in England, where there was a swing set and slide, and a fort he had assembled with his dad when he was six. Instead he was in his new home in New Jersey. They had moved there when he was twelve for some job his father was offered, plus they had some distant relatives in that area. Obviously he had taken it before they knew about the tumor.

"Are you sad?" A young voice asked. Arthur looked up to see a young boy he didn't recognize dressed in a black suit. Arthur, not wanting to be rude to a kid who looked no older than nine, nodded and looked away. He could see out of his peripherals that the boy plopped down to sit next to him, and began to mimic him by plucking grass and putting it into a pile as well.

"I would be too. Do you miss him?" The boy asked, looking at Arthur with curious blue eyes. Once again Arthur nodded.

"Yes. He was my best friend." Arthur murmured, glancing at the boy for a short moment.

"Well… if you ever get lonely, I'll be your best friend, Arthur!" Arthur looked a bit confused as to how this boy knew his name. He decided not to think much of it and assumed that this boy must've been one of the many, MANY members of extended family from his father's side. Even his father hadn't known every extended family member.

"Thank you. That's very nice. What's your name?" Arthur said. The boy smiled and offered his hand to Arthur.

"Peter! Peter Kirkland!" Arthur smiled slightly for a second, and shook the little hand.

"Peter, how do you know me?" Arthur asked, even though the fact that they had the same last name let Arthur know they were somehow related, he still felt the need to ask.

"I'm your…" Peter looked confused for a moment before he got a look of 'oh, that's right!' on his face and continued, "… I'm your third cousin!" He said proudly. Arthur nodded.

"Arthur! Come inside and get something to eat. Your mother said you haven't eaten all day!" Arthur looked over his shoulder to see his mother's older sister calling him. Sighing he nodded.

"I'll be right there." He called out. His aunt smiled comfortingly at him and went back inside the house. Arthur stood and looked down at Peter.

"Well I'm heading inside now, do you want to some?" Arthur asked. Peter shook his head.

"No thank you, me mum said we'll be leaving soon, so I think I'll just go find my parents." Peter then hoped to his feet and disappeared inside the house. B y the time Arthur got inside, he wasn't able to spot the boy anywhere, but he could see a minivan pulling out of the drive way. Arthur didn't think much of it and assumed that was probably Peter's family leaving.

After having his aunt fix him a plate of food, he went back outside to eat, sitting down in the spot he had previously occupied with Peter.

If one looked closely though, they would only find one small pile grass.

**Present day**

When Arthur woke up, he found himself in his bedroom, lying on his bed. Looking over he saw Francis sitting at a chair beside him.

"What happened?" Arthur asked his voice hoarse. Francis jumped slightly, obviously not noticing his friend had woken up, and looked over, startled.

"_Mon cher_, you're awake!" He stated. Arthur rolled his eyes and sat up in his bed.

"No shit Sherlock… What happened?" Arthur repeated. Francis sighed.

"You had some sort of schizophrenic freak out when you were out with Alfred and passed out." Francis explained. Arthur furrowed his brows and thought back to the last few things he could remember and groaned, remembering what had happened.

"You apparently woke up at the café, long enough for the paramedics to deem that you were alright and didn't have a concussion. I suppose you have Alfred to thank for that."

Alfred. God, he must've been so freaked out. Arthur looked down at his lap as Francis continued.

"He somehow dragged or carried your dazed self out of the café and into a cab, bringing you here, after getting the address from _Mathieu_. You've been passed out in here since." Francis said, pausing, waiting for Arthur to respond. When he didn't, Francis went on.

"That was about two hours ago." Arthur nodded.

"Did he say anything?" Arthur asked hesitantly and shyly. Francis shook his head.

"No. He seemed very… unnerved. He just dropped you off, told me what happened and left before I could explain anything to him." Arthur grimaced and pressed his hands against his eyes, groaning.

"Don't worry. I texted _Mathieu_, he said he would explain everything to Alfred when he got home." Arthur sighed, slightly relieved and leaned back against the bed.

"Now, will _vous_ tell _moi_ what happened?" Francis asked. Arthur hesitated for a moment.

"I saw one of them… I… I felt one of them touch me."

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><p><strong>You guys should know by now that 'vous' is you, 'moi' is me, 'mon cher' is my dear, and 'Mathieu' is Matthew; and if not, well, there they were!<strong>

**I know many people wanted or maybe thought or hoped Arthur's hallucinations to be his fairies and mint bunny, but I decided long ago when I first started writing this story not to use them as schizophrenic delusions. And here is why:**

**A theme in this story is distinguishing reality and hallucination, what's real and what's not for Arthur, and honestly, if Arthur was having hallucinations about fairies, wizards, mint bunny, and elves; then I don't think he'd be as distraught or as stressed, and he'd probably wouldn't have tried to commit suicide; because it'd be easy for him to distinguish real and fake if he hallucinated about fairytale creatures.**

**But don't worry, England's magical friends will somehow be incorporated into the story, but I won't tell you how!**

**So stay in tuned for Alfred's take on things! And tell me what you thought of this chapter! Did you guys like the flashback?**


	10. Use Your Brain Alfred!

**Well here it is! What was originally going to be the second half of the last chapter! **

**Uhm, as for the next update, I don't know when that'll be. As some of you may know, it is Shark Week, so I will be busy indulging myself in shark shows! It's my favorite week! I'll be trying to update, but if for some reason you guys don't see another update until August 8****th****, know that I am ok and not dead, and that I'm just too distracted by sharks!**

**Ugh, I didn't have time to edit, because I have to do something and I REALLY wanted to update, so I promise to edit and re-upload this chapter later! So bare with me here!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Nine: Use Your Brain, Alfred!<strong>

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><p>What had just happened? Alfred didn't know. He thought everything was fine, he thought Arthur was fine. But then…<p>

He looked so pale… so shocked. Alfred had never seen anyone look so afraid at nothing.

When Arthur's eyes had rolled back into his head and he began to fall towards the ground, all Alfred could remember doing was grabbing on tightly to the older man's arms and pulling the other body towards him, taking extra care in making sure he didn't hurt his head.

After that everything kinda froze. He remembers gently laying Arthur on the ground as someone nearby used their coat to cushion his head as the people in the café gathered curiously. He remembered one of them saying they'd call 911.

By the time the paramedics came ten minutes later, Arthur had opened his eyes and sat up, but he seemed completely out of it. The paramedic told him that he'd be fine and just needed to rest. So he dropped Arthur off at his and Francis' apartment, not even bothering to stay long enough for Francis to give any sort of explanation.

Alfred just went home. When he entered his tiny apartment with his face looking shocked and unnerved, Feliciano and Ludwig had asked what was wrong, but he just muttered "nothing" and went to the solace of his room, ignoring their concerned looks.

As he laid in his bed with his iPod on shuffle, and the lights turned off, he tried to make sense of what happened, but nothing he came up with made sense.

He was almost positive that what happened wasn't because Arthur was somehow abducted and aliens had put some sort of probe in his brain that malfunctioned and caused him to black out. That was ridiculous, even though he secretly wished it were true. The alien part. Not the malfunctioning probe, black out part. Everyone knew alien technology was too advanced to malfunction.

'_Duh! Use your brain Al!' _

But weird theories aside, Alfred still felt unnerved by what happened. He hadn't even notice his door open and someone come inside until the lights were switched on. When he looked up he saw Matthew looking at him with the same concerned look Ludwig and Feliciano had given him. Except for some reason his had a more knowing look.

"Hey Mattie! What up?" Alfred greeted, feigning his usual friendly and enthusiastic demeanor as he pulled his earphones out. It was rather convincing too, but Matthew knew his brother too well to be fooled.

Matthew made his way across the bedroom they shared and took a seat on his own bed, facing Alfred.

"Francis told me what happened." He stated, almost sounding ominous. Alfred hesitantly met his brother's gaze, sitting up in his bed.

"He did?" Matthew nodded and Alfred sighed, looking down at his lap as he crossed his legs to sit Indian style on his bed.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Matthew asked. Alfred hunched shoulders up, tilting his head to the side.

"There's nothing to talk about." Alfred mumbled.

"Al, come on-"

"No Mattie! I don't know what happened, all I know is he suddenly looked shit scared and passed out." Matthew looked at his brother sympathetically.

"And I didn't know what to so… I just froze."

"Well it's not your fault… what caused Arthur to black out was something no one could really prevent." Matthew explained. Alfred scoffed and looked at his brother skeptically.

"Yeah, sure…" Alfred grumbled. Matthew shook his head, getting up from his seat on his bed and sitting down next to Alfred.

"No, I'm serious Alfred… Arthur's… He's schizophrenic." It was quiet between them, neither knowing what to say.

"Back at the café he was having some sort of schizophrenic freak out… I don't think you could've done anything even if you didn't freeze." Alfred didn't say anything and just continued to stare at his lap. In an attempt to lighten the mood Matthew let out a small laugh.

"You know, when I first met him he thought I was a hallucination and ignored me… no matter how many times I tried to talk to him. He just acted like I was invisible or not even there! Not that I'm not already used to people ignoring or not seeing me, because I am, bu-"

"Is he gonna be alright?" Alfred asked quietly, interrupting his brother. Matthew nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, of course he is… I'm going over to their apartment tonight. Do you want to come?" Alfred smiled, but shook his head at Matthew's offer.

"Nah, me and Kiku are going to be web chatting tonight… Well it'll be morning for him." Alfred said feeling and sounding a bit better than he did before. Matthew smiled.

"Oh. How're things with him?" Alfred smiled but also shrugged.

"Things are good… the long distance is hard and it really sucks, but it's better than breaking up." Alfred explained. Matthew smiled, but looked a bit skeptical; he never thought the long distance relationship was a good idea. Fortunately for him, Alfred was bad at reading people, so he never noticed his skepticism.

"Right, well tell Kiku I say hi." Matthew said, getting up from the bed.

"So are you gonna be alright? You still seem a little… spooked by what happened with Arthur." Matthew asked as he headed over towards the door. Alfred looked reluctant to answer at first, but sighed and nodded.

"Yeah… yeah I will. I just need to think." Matthew nodded and left the room to give his brother some privacy. When he was gone, Alfred sighed and laid back down on his bed, popping his earphones back in and pressing play on his iPod.

His mind drifted back to Arthur, though, as he thought about this new-found information that he was schizophrenic.

Alfred couldn't even imagine what it must be like inside Arthur's brain. He'd seen 'A Beautiful Mind' and he knew how fucked up things could get.

Before he knew what he was doing, Alfred leaned over his bed towards his desk that was a couple feet away, pulling the laptop that rested there, onto his lap.

Opening it up, he pulled up his internet, going over to google.

Schizophrenia.

It felt a bit weird typing it into the search bar. He even hesitated to press the search button.

He wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for. He guessed he just wanted a better understanding of what Arthur was going through.

When it loaded, he looked at one of the first links on the page, reciting out loud to himself in a soft, mumbled voice:

"'Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that makes it difficult to tell the difference between real and unreal experiences… to think logically, to have normal emotional responses, and to behave normally in social situations...' Arthur…"

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><p><strong>Well sorry for the shortness, but technically this was supposed to be the second half of another chapter :\ Be patient for the next chapter! Seriously, shark week! I'm so excited I even wrote a USUK friendship one shot about Shark Week called 'To Live Every Week.' I do promise that I will try to update, but I can't promise that I will. I hope you guys aren't mad at me!<strong>


	11. Let's Hit the Town and Boogie Down!

**Ugh! I feel like such a Fibbing Fran! I said I'd update on the 8****th**** and it's the 10****th****! I'm sorry ya'll! I was busy getting over my Shark Week hangover! This year was too epic! Lol, anyway, like I said, I'm sorry! That's why I made this chapter a bit longer to reward you guys for patiently waiting. I can't believe I haven't updated in over a week! Hopefully I'll get this finished up before school starts. If not, I'll try to update every other week or once a week, depending on how much school work I have.**

**Anyway, I hope you guys aren't disappointed by this chapter! Some big stuff happens, and I hope you guys won't feel like it's too much or stupid.**

**Uhm… anyway. I have been VERY distracted over the past week. You all know why. And I think there were some reviews I forgot to reply to. So if I did, I'm sorry! After I post this I'll go through my inbox to see who I forgot! Thanks to all anonymous reviewers! You guys rock too!**

**Well, enough of this author's note. Onto the chapter! I hope I edited enough! If not I re-upload it!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Ten: Let's Hit the Town and Boogie Down!<strong>

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><p>It had been almost a week since Arthur's episode at the coffee shop, and he had yet to hear anything from Alfred.<p>

He hadn't gotten a single text, or phone call. Not one email or facebook message; which was peculiar because ever since he and Alfred became friends, the boy usually contacted him to say hi every day. He was always social like that.

Arthur wouldn't have felt so nervous if their last meeting hadn't been so… would disastrous be the appropriate word to use? He honestly didn't know.

To make matters worse, whenever Matthew came around their apartment, the boy would always give him these looks that he just couldn't decipher. As if he were trying to reassure, yet also pity him at the same time. Whenever Arthur asked about Alfred though, Matthew would avoid his gaze and attempt to change the subject, like he was tip-toeing around his feelings or something.

It was ridiculous.

At least he hadn't seen or… felt anything, besides the occasional soft murmur at the back of his mind, and the fact that his twitches and spasms were more frequent. But that's what usually happened whenever he had a big episode.

Sighing, the Brit took out his phone, for the umpteenth time in the last few minute, to check for any potential texts or emails that he may have missed or hadn't noticed. God help him, he was a man obsessed.

"If you didn't have any messages from a minute ago, I doubt you'll find anything new now, aru." Arthur looked over, grimacing embarrassedly as he set his cell down onto the break-room table. He'd forgotten, in his worrisome thoughts, where and who he was with.

"Right… I know." He muttered, leaning back into his chair and crossing his arms. Yao looked at him skeptically and shook his head.

"You've been acting strange all week… Stranger than usual, aru. What's going on? Still freaked out from your episode last week?" Arthur groaned softly and looked down into his lap, shaking his head.

"No… everything's been… ok on the schizo front… It's just more… drama." Arthur explained, his face contorting in twitches, and his fingers squeezing his arms in short, abrupt spasms.

"It's not with that unavailable college boy, is it?" Yao asked, with obvious dread and annoyance in his voice. Alfred had been the topic of many of their conversations over the last couple weeks, and Yao was beginning to tire of it.

Arthur sighed and reluctantly nodded as he met his friend's gaze.

"Yao… I think Matthew and Francis are right… I think I like him. _Really_ like him." Arthur confessed in a hushed voice, as if it were some big conspiracy. Yao rolled his eyes.

"Aaah-Durr." Yao grunted, very uncharacteristically. Arthur looked at him, a bit surprised at his reaction.

"Of course you like him. He's practically the only thing you talk about lately, aru!" Yao explained a bit exasperated.

"Sorry." Arthur mumbled placing his elbows on the table and buried his face in his hands.

"I must've been sounded so annoying and pathetic."

Yao smirked and let out a small chuckle.

"Yes, well that's what friends are for, aru. To listen when you're at your most _pathetic._.. Emphasis on pathetic…" Yao said, mumbling the last part under his breath, but Arthur heard it anyway and threw his friend a playful, twitchy glare.

"Very funny, you should do stand up…"

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><p>Returning home to his apartment, Arthur was met by the familiar sight of Matthew and Francis on the couch.<p>

'_At least they're not snogging again…' _Arthur thought relieved, he had walked in on the two 'going at it' before, and it was not a pretty sight.

"_Bonjour, mon cher!_" Francis greeted with a nervous waver in his voice. Looking over to Matthew, Arthur noticed the boy's face was scarlet red. Well he may not have caught sight of them in their snog fest, which meant they were getting better at hearing the door unlock. Thank the Lord.

"Arthur, h-hey!" Matthew stuttered out, covertly fixing his shirt. Arthur nodded in their direction.

"Any big plans for the night?" Francis asked. Arthur rolled his eyes. Like he ever had plans. Francis probably had some big plans for the evening that he wanted Arthur to take part in.

"No." Arthur muttered, going over to the conjoined kitchen to make a cup of tea.

"_Excellente, _because a bunch of us are going out to this hot new club." Francis stated, standing up from the couch and leaning over their kitchen island/divider. Matthew followed and took a seat on one of the stools.

"The Q Lounge?" Arthur inquired, pouring water into his electric kettle. Matthew nodded while Francis looked at him quizzically.

"_Tu_ know about the Q Lounge? Arthur, I'm _impressionnes._" Francis grinned slyly causing Matthew to roll his eyes and smile amusedly at his boyfriend. Arthur just shook his head.

"You know, just because I don't 'hit the town' or 'boogie down' doesn't mean I live underneath a rock." When Arthur snidely said this, Matthew brought a hand to his lips to stifle a laugh while Francis looked at him, clearly entertained.

"'Boogie down' Arthur? Really? I can accept 'hit the town' but 'boogie down?'" Francis said, laughing mockingly. Matthew let out a few chuckles but was able to contain himself. Arthur glared.

"Shut it, you twat!" Arthur retorted, returning his gaze to his kettle.

"So, do you wanna come with us, Arthur?" Matthew asked leaning forward in his seat. Arthur made a face and shook his head.

"Eh… no thanks. Besides, how will you even get in Matthew? Isn't it a 21 plus club?" Arthur asked after declining the offer. Francis grinned again.

"The beauty of a fake ID, _mon cher!" _Arthur rolled his eyes, not very amused with his roommate and poured the hot water from his kettle into a mug with a teabag.

"You do know what a fake ID is?" Francis asked, obviously teasing him.

"Please Francis. Who was it again that got you _your _first fake in college?" Arthur said, puffing his chest out smugly. Francis smirked.

"You knew how to get fake IDs?" Matthew asked a bit mystified since he never really pegged Arthur as that type of person. Francis smiled and put his hand on Matthew's shoulder.

"_Oui Mathieu, _he did! Arthur had all the connections." Matthew looked over to Arthur for confirmation. The Brit sighed and nodded, taking a sip of the hot tea in his mug.

"I knew a guy from high school." He muttered into his mug. Matthew continued looking at him surprised.

"Did… did you have one?" Matthew asked, almost reluctantly. Before Arthur could answer though, Francis chuckled and spoke up.

"_Oui, _but he never really used it to go out clubbing like the rest of us. He just went to some bar and, as he would call it, get pissed." Francis explained, obviously more entertained with the conversation than the other two. Matthew let out a strange combination of a scoff and a laugh.

"Pissed? I never really pictured you as a drinker, Arthur."

Said man looked away embarrassed and filled his mouth with his tea. Francis snorted amused.

"Ah, Arthur was quite the mean drunk. Still is."

"Sod off frog!" Arthur muttered, glaring at Francis with a deathly stare. Definitely not enjoying the topic of the conversation.

"_Je vais… _but only if you come tonight!" Francis said manipulatively. Arthur just rolled his eyes and turned away from the two, preparing on just leaving and going to his room. However,

"Alfred is coming."

Arthur halted his steps and cocked his head back, his face twitched slightly. Even though he had no desire to go to some crowded, sweaty night club with Francis, he did want to see Alfred. He was tired of the boy ignoring him. Paranoid that Alfred may think of him as some sort of freak because of his schizophrenia.

Matthew looked at Francis with an eyebrow raised, as if to say 'you better know what you're doing, because my brother has a boyfriend, and if Arthur gets led on and both of them end up getting hurt, I'll blame you.'

It was a very wordy look.

"Fine… I'll go." Arthur started to leaving again, having enough of the awkward interaction. As he walked toward his room, he sighed annoyed when he heard Francis' voice snark-ily call out,

"We're meeting at 9:00. Wear something cute!"

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><p>Arthur never understood the appeal of waiting in a long line, getting scrutinized, having to pay a damn cover charge in you got in, and then spend your evening in a crowded, b-o scented club with over priced drinks.<p>

The fact that they had been in line for ten minutes and Alfred hadn't said anything to him besides a polite, "Hey, how's it going?" "Good, you?" "Good too…" It was utterly painful.

Sighing, Arthur looked around the group. Francis had his arm around Matthew, Feliciano was clinging to Ludwig while chatting animatedly with Alfred and his brother Lovino's boyfriend Antonio, and Elizaveta and Gilbert were having some sort of argument on who was stronger. There were a few more people Arthur didn't recognize, but he knew they were friends with Francis. Arthur groaned and looked over to his side where Yao stood, bored as well.

"Thanks for coming." Arthur muttered lowly. Yao looked over at him and shrugged.

"It was no problem, aru. I mostly just wanted to see what was so great about this Alfred." Yao admitted, smirking. Arthur blushed and couldn't help but let his gaze wander over to the American.

"I don't know what you see in him. He's an idiot, aru." Arthur smirked and snorted. That was to be expected. Yao tended to hold high standards for people who he'd spend his personal time with.

"Yeah… he is… You must think I'm wasting my time thinking about him…" Arthur mumbled, sort of embarrassed. Besides Francis, Yao was really the only other _close _friend he had, and he cared what Yao thought.

"But he… seems nice enough, aru." Yao said, though it sounded forced, Arthur smiled, happy that his friend was at least trying to sound supportive.

"A bit young, tough…"

Even though Yao clearly disapproved.

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><p>The only positive thing Arthur could say about the Q Lounge once they got in after standing in line nearly half an hour, was that it didn't smell as bad as he thought it would, and that the drinks weren't <em>too <em>overpriced.

But other than that, Arthur wasn't exactly happy to be there. Fortunately he wasn't the only one.

When they entered the club about an hour and a half ago, they found a corner booth and claimed it as their territory and meet place for the night. After that, they had all split up. Gilbert had wandered off to hit on random girls; Alfred, Feliciano, an Elizaveta went off to the dance floor to dance wildly, and well… looked rather dorky and idiotic as well. At least they appeared to be having fun. Francis, Matthew, and Francis' friends had all disappeared to god only knows where, leaving the rest of them at the corner booth.

The rest of them being Ludwig, who clearly wanted to leave the moment they arrived, Lovino, who was always in a sour mood and seemed to have a clear disliking of Ludwig, Antonio, Lovino's boyfriend, who was currently bugging him to join him on the dance floor, and Arthur himself and Yao. Arthur trying his hardest not to get drunk, and Yao silently scrutinizing and judging everyone at the table.

It was a very lively bunch.

Eventually though, Antonio got fed up and stormed off, causing Lovino to groan and chase after him.

"What was that all about?" Arthur murmured, glancing over to Ludwig. He shrugged boredly and rolled his eyes annoyed.

"They always fight whenever we all get together…" Ludwig explained while glancing over to the dance floor at Feliciano, who was currently to the YMCA dance to a Lady Gaga song. Ludwig shook his head and smiled fondly before composing himself and looking back over to Yao and Arthur.

"Matthew thinks it's because Lovino gets jealous." Arthur looked at him quizzically and glanced over to Yao who was currently texting on his phone, obviously not interested in the conversation.

Before Arthur could ask, Ludwig answered the un-said question.

"I don't know the whole story, because I honestly don't care, but apparently Antonio went to high school with Alfred and Matthew, and before he met Lovino, Antonio used to really liked Alfred or something." As Ludwig explained this he shook his head as if he were annoyed or disapproved. Maybe he just thought the drama was pointless.

"Did… did Antonio and Alfred… did they…?" Arthur found his ability to speak suddenly become very hard for him. Maybe he was jealous or maybe he was curious. But he did know that he didn't like it.

Ludwig shook his head.

"They didn't date if that's what you're asking, but I think something must've happened between them to make Lovino jealous." For some reason, Ludwig's explanation sounded very cryptic to Arthur. He looked over to Alfred on the dance floor. Was Ludwig right for suspecting something? Arthur shook his head, clearing his head of such suspicious thoughts. It wasn't his business anyway.

When Arthur found himself glancing back over towards Alfred, he noticed that Antonio had joined him, looking around the club he saw Lovino glaring at the two as he left the club.

Maybe there was something to be suspicious of.

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><p>It was almost 2 am and Alfred was surprised at how much he had been dancing. As he walked away from the crowd, he finally noticed just how wet his shirt was from the sweat.<p>

Everyone in their group was either dancing or drinking, or like Lovino, had left for the night. When he got closer to the booth he noticed that it was just Ludwig sitting there with a tired, tipsy Feliciano leaning against him. Smiling, he decided to give the two lovers privacy and found a door leading to a vacant alley.

Using an empty beer bottle to prop open the door, he took a seat on the steps and slowly breathed in the cool night air that faintly smelled of garbage and alcohol.

Tonight had been way too awkward for Alfred. Matthew had apparently forgotten to notify him that Arthur was coming, leaving him unprepared when the Englishmen arrived and joined them in line.

It wasn't that Alfred was freaked out by Arthur or anything… it was just that he didn't know what to say to him. Was he supposed to apologize for not knowing what to do? Or was he supposed to act like it never happened.

He'd prefer the latter, but Alfred had a feeling that that wouldn't work.

Tonight just wasn't going well for him. Lovino and Antonio had another fight, causing Antonio to come crying to Alfred for comfort, so after thirty minutes of trying to cheer his friend up in the men's bathroom, Antonio finally decided to just get drunk. Alfred hadn't seen him since.

Sighing, Alfred ran his hands through his damp, sweaty hair, not noticing the door opening or the drunken man that stumbled out.

"Alllffffred! Heeey!"

Alfred looked up towards the source of the slurred greeting to find Arthur with his hair mussed and his shirt wrinkled and stained with sweat and alcohol. He laughed at the sight of the usually uptight, composed man, now sloppy, drunk, and without any inhibitions.

Arthur, even though he didn't know why Alfred was laughing, began to laugh as well as he plopped himself down next Alfred on the stoop.

"Artie, you ok buddy?" Alfred asked with smile. No need to feel awkward when Arthur was out of his mind drunk. Arthur muttered and giggled to himself, not really paying any mind to Alfred.

"He's… he's jus' restin'…" Arthur mumbled. Alfred looked over to Arthur, amused.

"Who's resting?" Alfred asked, but Arthur didn't acknowledge him and continued to mumble.

"I… I, sir, knn-know a dead… parro' when I see… one." Alfred chuckled and shook his head, realizing that Arthur, in his drunken state, had started quoting a Monty Python sketch.

'_Does he always quote Monty Python when he's drunk?' _Alfred thought as he listened to Arthur's slurred, drunken rendition of the parrot sketch.

"…the… the Nnnorwegian blue…" Alfred patted his hand on Arthur's shoulder, and the Brit lazily swung his head over to meet Alfred's gaze.

"You are wasted! I'm taking you home." Alfred stated making a move to stand, but Arthur drunkenly pulled him down, keeping him from getting up.

"Wha' abou' the dead parrot?" Arthur whined, wrapping his arms around Alfred's shoulders and neck and nuzzling his face into his shoulder.

"Don't worry; the parrot is in a better place, now c'mon, let's get you home." Alfred said, trying to pry Arthur off of him. But to no avail. Arthur was a very clingy drunk.

"Nno! I don't wanna go drunk, I'm not home!" Arthur slurred, tightly holding onto Alfred as the America somehow managed to stand and support Arthur. Alfred laughed at Arthur's slurred words and attempted to walk the drunken man out of the alley and towards the street.

"No, you are going drunk. Because you are very home!" Alfred said in a teasing and mocking tone, but Arthur didn't pay attention to him though and just stumbled along, almost falling. Alfred sighed and wrapped his arm around Arthur's waist, hoisting him up so he was standing upright.

"Alllllfred…?" Arthur looked out of the corner of his eyes to see Arthur staring at him.

"Yeah?"

"Why… why did ye' ignore meh?" Arthur asked, leaning his head on Alfred's shoulder. Alfred blushed and kept his gaze focused ahead of him.

"I'm sorry I ignored you, Arthur… I just didn't know what to say to you. Do you forgive me?" Alfred knew he'd have to apologize again when Arthur was sober and could actually remember, but at least it was good practice. Arthur, however, never responded, his mind now thinking of something else.

"Wha' 'appened between you an… you and Antonnnio?" Alfred, clearly not expecting that question, halted in his steps and looked at Arthur with wide, shocked eyes.

"Wh-what did you say?" Alfred asked anxiously, hoping he had just misheard him.

"Arthur, what did you say?" Arthur shook his head and smiled, clearly too drunk to understand what was going on.

"Hmhmm… Alfie!" Arthur laughed, swaying side to side slowly. Alfred sighed, maybe when he sobered up he'd just forget about him and Antonio.

"Dooo... Do ye' like 'im?" Arthur asked. Alfred groaned and looked away and continued to guide the staggering man down the alley way, hoping to catch a taxi to take him home.

"Do ye like me?" It was so quiet, but Alfred heard the question nonetheless. He looked down, blushing, to see Arthur blushing as well. Whether it was from his drunkenness or the question, Alfred didn't know.

"Arthur… I-"

"You 'ave a boyfrien' I know…" Arthur said exasperated and a bit down. Alfred looked away.

"Arthur… if things were different… mayb-"

Alfred didn't have a chance to finish his explanation. Arthur had placed his hands on either side of Alfred's face, turning it so they were facing. Alfred felt his face get extremely warm, his breathing became harder, and he could practically feel the sweat dripping down his face.

"Ar-Arthur… what are you do-mmnnpph!"

And just like that, Arthur had done what he had wanted to do for awhile now. He hungrily pressed his lips to Alfred's, tasting the salty sweat on his lips as he moved them in a sloppy rhythmic fashion. Alfred stood frozen for several moments, too shocked to push Arthur away.

He wasn't even sure if he wanted to push Arthur away.

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><p><strong>CLIFFHANGER! Kinda... Well what do think! Eventful chapter? Or was it just stupid? Anyway, I love you guys! Sorry for taking so long to update!<strong>


	12. A Superman Snuggie?

**So here's a new chapter! Before any of you complain that it's too short, I just want to say that it's hard updating everyday and every other day. I will admit that this chapter could've been longer, but I liked the way it played out and I really liked the line it ended on. I will be trying to update again by either tomorrow or Saturday.**

**Anyway, once again, thank you for all the reviews! Sometimes I'm tempted to just wait really long to update to get more, but then I think, that's no fun for me or the readers! It's also not fair. Authors shouldn't hold their updates hostage for more reviews! It's greedy and immature on the author's part. So I promise that even if a chapter only gets one review, I'll still update. I mean, I'll ask what I did wrong in the author's note, but I won't withhold a chapter.**

**I don't know why I ranted about that… well I do actually, I found a story I really liked, but the author said she wouldn't continue it until she got more reviews! Lame! Ok, rant over.**

**I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I hope it's edited enough! I'm sorry it's short, but like I said, I liked the way this chapter played out and I liked how I ended it!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Eleven: A Superman Snuggie?<strong>

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><p>Waking up with a hangover was something Arthur never liked, every time he'd wake up with his head pounding, eyes and ears sensitive, and horrible alcohol mixed with swallowed vomit scented morning breath. And every time he'd swear to never get pissed drunk again.<p>

What they say is true, 'never make a promise that you can't keep.' Too bad that never stopped Arthur.

This morning however, instead of waking up to Francis banging pots over his head, (despite the fact that they were friends, Francis was still a bit of a dick at times.)he woke up to the smell of hazel nut coffee, pancakes, and bacon.

Cracking open his eye, Arthur was met with the sight of a room he wasn't familiar with. As he looked around he noted he was in a living room, lying on a worn leather couch with a,

'_Is this a superman snuggie?'_ He thought as he opened his other eyes and sat up, tiredly rubbing the sleep for them.

"Oh you're up. Did you sleep ok?" Arthur turned his head to find Alfred awkwardly standing in the entrance of the hallway that probably led to the bedrooms and bathroom, wearing a long sleeved t-shirt and pajama pants that were awkwardly short on him, ending at his upper shins. Arthur cringed. He was at Alfred's. Stretching out his arms and scratching his head, Arthur avoided Alfred's gaze.

"Yes… thank you."

Alfred cleared his throat, gaining Arthur's attention.

"Matthew's making breakfast. It's great for hangovers." Arthur nodded and stood up from the couch, folding the superman snuggie with a distasteful grimace and placing it on the couch.

"Sorry about that… We didn't really have anything else." Alfred explained, gesturing towards the ostentatious fabric. Arthur shrugged and mumbled.

"It's quite alright."

And followed Alfred to the kitchen where Matthew stood in front of a stove, flipping various things in various pans. Feliciano was sat at a small table on the other side of the room by a window, drinking what must've been the hazel nut coffee Arthur smelt earlier.

"Good morning, did you sleep ok on the couch, Arthur?" Matthew asked, glancing at Alfred and Arthur as they entered the kitchen. Alfred walked past his brother, tiredly waving, and poured himself a cup of coffee, taking a seat at the table next to Feliciano.

"Fine, thank you." Arthur awkwardly stood there, not sure what to do. Matthew noticed his nervous composure and pointed with his spatula towards the coffee pot.

"There are mugs in the cupboard if you want coffee. Have a seat, breakfast will be ready soon." Arthur muttered a thank you and opened the cupboard, grabbing a red mug, filling it with coffee and taking a seat across from Alfred at the table.

"So… what happened last night?" Arthur asked once seated, interrupting whatever it was Alfred and Feliciano were previously conversing about. Feliciano smiled and leaned forward.

"Ve~ we went dancing at this night club, and almost everyone got drunk!" Feliciano explained, Arthur forced a polite smile and nodded.

"Thank you Feliciano, but I meant, what happened last night, as in how did I get here." Arthur clarified. Feliciano made an O with his mouth and shrugged.

"Oh, well then I don't know! You were passed out on our couch when me, Ludwig, and Mattie got home!"

Alfred cleared his throat and took a sip of his coffee.

"Uhm, you got really drunk, so I was gonna take you back to your place, but I couldn't remember the address and you were too drunk to tell me. I tried texting Mattie and Francis but neither of them answered, so I just brought you here." Alfred seemed stiff and awkward as he explained this, leading Arthur to believe he must've done something seriously embarrassing.

"I was pissed drunk… I must've made such an arse of myself." Arthur muttered groggily, burying his head into his arms. He heard Alfred chuckle, but he could tell it was an uncomfortable, forced one.

"Ha… uh, no, you actually just kept reciting the dead parrot sketch from Monty Python." Arthur peaked out from his arms, an embarrassed grimace on his face.

"I didn't do anything else, did I?" Alfred blushed and looked away, coughing into his hand.

"Uh no… nope… Well, in the cab, before you passed out, you began to mumble a few lines from the argument clinic sketch, but other than that, nothing." Arthur eyed Alfred skeptically, not really believing that he was telling the whole story. Before he could press the subject further, Matthew put a large stack of pancakes on the table, along with some bacon and eggs. Immediately, both Feliciano and Alfred made up plates, and Matthew joined them at the table. After preparing two plates, Feliciano got up from the table, balancing the two plates in his hands.

"Ve~ Thank you for making breakfast Mattie!" The Italian then pranced out the kitchen. Arthur watched him leave, confused.

"Where's he going?"

"Ludwig gets the worst hangovers, so he's bringing him breakfast in bed." Matthew explained smiling, obviously finding it cute.

"So where's Francis?" Alfred asked, switching subjects, Arthur looked at him discreetly.

"He stayed out late with some of his friends. I'm guessing he's passed out at his place. I'm going over to check in on him soon." Matthew looked over to Arthur and noticed that he hadn't put anything on his plate yet.

"Have some food, Arthur." Matthew asked. Arthur shrugged.

"No thank you. I should actually get going." Arthur made a move to stand, but stopped.

"Do either of you know what happened to my coat? It had my keys and wallet." Alfred put his fork down and stood up.

"Yeah, it's on the coat rack. I'll uh… I'll walk you out." Arthur hesitantly nodded and followed Alfred out of the kitchen, having a horrible feeling that he was not gonna like whatever was about to happen.

Alfred walked over to his front door where a rack holding several coats stood. Unhooking Arthur's and tossing it over to him, he avoided his gaze.

"Listen… about last night…" Alfred trailed off and shyly looked over to Arthur.

"You…" Alfred sighed. "… You said some things." Arthur blushed.

"I hope it wasn't anything too embarrassing." Arthur muttered. Alfred let out a soft laugh and shook his head.

"You didn't, but… I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry I've been giving you the cold shoulder for the past week." Arthur looked over at Alfred surprised and fiddled with his coat nervously. Was he finally gonna find out why Alfred ignored him.

"It's… It's ok." Arthur said, even though deep down he knew he wasn't ok with it, and tried to smile and reassure Alfred.

"No. Seriously, I shouldn't have ignored you… it's just… I felt as if what happened… was my fault."

Arthur, shocked, gave Alfred a look of disbelief. How could he think his schizophrenic episode was his fault?

"Alfred-"

"Look, I know from what I've read, and from what Francis and Matthew have told me, that it's not. But… I just can't help but feel as if there was something I could've-should've done to help you or somehow prevent what happened."

Well that was unexpected. Arthur rolled his eyes and smirked, looking at Alfred in an adoring fashion. Alfred nervously met his gaze and blushed embarrassedly.

"You are such a git." Arthur said with a laugh in his voice. Alfred's widened a moment before a smile broke onto his face and he laughed.

"So can we please go back to being friends?" Arthur asked earnestly. Alfred's smile widened and he nodded enthusiastically.

"Totally! I mean, you still haven't shown me 'Casablanca' yet, dude!" Arthur chuckled and nodded, slipping on his coat.

"Right, so I'll talk to you later?" Alfred nodded and opened the door for Arthur.

"Yeah, I'll text you or something. We'll have to hang out before me and Mattie leave for Canada." Arthur stepped out of the apartment as he nodded.

"Great… so uhm. Are you sure I didn't say or do anything else last night?" Arthur looked at Alfred with an investigative look as the young man blushed and clear his throat.

"Well uh… you… you sort of… kissed me."

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><p><strong>I wonder how Arthur will react now that he's aware of some of his drunken escapades. Hmm, anyone? I know! What do ya'll think? <strong>


	13. Arthur's Lip Assualt

**Yeah! I'm back! Another chapter! Yay!**

**Now then, onto better things, ahem, initiate freak out mode:**

**HOLY CRAPOLY! I'VE REACHED 200 REVIEWS! OVER 200 REVIEWS! THANK YOU ALL SOOOOO MUCH! YOU'RE ALL AWESOME! THIS IS SOOOOO AMAZING! I FEEL SO GRATEFUL TO HAVE SO MANY LOYAL, FAITHFUL READERS AND REVIEWERS! IT MEANS SO MUCH! REALLY! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!**

**Now I would like to give a special thanks to my 200****th**** reviewer, Oletta! They're awesome! AMzing, really! So thank you Oletta for being my 200****th**** reviewer!**

**Now, ONTO 300 REVIEWS! Lol, jk, like that'll happen!**

**Ahem… yes well… Thank you!**

**Anyway, onto the story! I'll try to update again soon! Hope I edited this enough! Sorry for the shortness!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Twelve: Arthur's Lip Assualt<strong>

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><p><strong>Last night<strong>

He wasn't even sure if he wanted to push Arthur away.

As Arthur lustfully moved his lips against Alfred's, the younger man could slowly feel himself relaxing into the kiss, just as he was about to fully kiss Arthur back, he realized where he was, who he was with, and that he had a boyfriend.

Jerking away, like a child who had touched a hot stove surface, Alfred clumsily stumbled backwards, failing to realize that without his support, the drunken Arthur wouldn't be able to stand.

Before he could react, Alfred watched Arthur stumble and to the ground, laughing and muttering more Monty Python lines.

'_Did… did that just happen?'_

**Present day**

Arthur really didn't know what to say, all he knew was that he felt his whole body go numb, and his face twitched into a horrified expression.

In his drunken haze, he had assaulted Alfred's mouth with his lips. The worst part, Alfred was the devoted boyfriend of some guy in Japan.

"Hey it's ok. I pulled away before anything could happen. Don't worry about it." Arthur looked cautiously over to Alfred, who looked as awkward as Arthur felt.

Neither really knew what to say after that, prolonging the uncomfortable silence. Alfred's hands stuffed themselves deep into the pockets of his pajama pants as his blue eyes winced and looked away; a scarlet blush on his cheeks.

Arthur, in attempt to end the silence grunted and tried to keep his arms from spasm-ing.

"Yes… well I… sorry for… kissing… you…"

Again. Silence.

Arthur sighed and composed himself. There was plenty of time to dwell on this kiss awkwardly later when he was by himself.

"Was it really necessary to tell me, though?" Arthur asked, gaining a bit of confidence, though his voice sounded a bit exasperated. Alfred looked at him with wide eyes and shrugged up his shoulders.

"I don't know… I just thought you'd be less mad if you heard it from me and not someone else, like Mattie or Francis, or remembered it on your own." Arthur looked at Alfred with a bit of disbelief. Alfred was worried that he'd be mad at him? HIM! Arthur, the drunken git that kissed him? Arthur almost chuckled before he realized what else Alfred said. Mattie or Francis.

"Matthew and Francis know I kissed you?" Arthur asked, absolutely horrified. Alfred's hands quickly came up, holding themselves in front of Alfred and shaking defensively.

"No no! I just told Mattie. But you know how he is with Francis, so I assume he'd tell him and then Francis would tell you. And you know how… blunt Francis can be, so I thought it'd be better to just come out and tell you!" Alfred had somehow frantically said his whole explanation in one hectic breath, impressing Arthur, who sighed and attempted to smile.

"It's ok. Thank you for telling me." Alfred smiled widely and slapped his hand on Arthur's upper arm, in a friendly gesture.

"Cool… so I'll text you later?" Arthur rolled his eyes, but nodded.

"I should get going now." Arthur confessed, finally walking out of the little apartment. Alfred grinned.

"See ya' later dude!" Alfred then closed the door, leaving Arthur in the hallway.

As he walked out of the apartment building, Arthur was thankful to finally have some time by himself to think, and made his way to the subway station.

'_God, that was bloody awful.'_ He thought. He still couldn't believe that he had kissed Alfred. He also couldn't believe that Alfred was dense enough to think that he'd want to know about the drunk kiss.

Oh, if only he could forget. What was the point of getting drunk if you could remember all the horrid things you did? Arthur groaned and brought out his phone from his pocket to check the time.

It was almost noon.

As he went down the stairs to get to the subway, he couldn't help but let his mind wander to last night. He remembered getting there and for the first hour or maybe two hours of the night he was at a table with Yao and Ludwig, Lovino was there with Antonio…

Antonio.

He remembered, before he had gotten drunk, Ludwig said something about how he suspected something happening between Alfred and Antonio to make Lovino jealous.

But what?

And if something did happen, was it before Alfred started dating that bloke Kiku, or was it during?

Arthur shook his head.

No, Alfred wasn't the type to cheat. So it must've happened before. But if something did happen, why were Alfred and Antonio keeping it secret and not telling anyone?

'_Would it cause him and Kiku to break up?'_ Arthur thought, a little too eagerly. He shook his head. No, he wasn't going to be that guy. He wasn't going to dig up some secret about Alfred and hope it'd make him available.

'_Still… what happened?'_

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><p>Alfred let out a sigh as he closed the door, pressing his ear against the wood to see if he could hear Arthur's footsteps retreating.<p>

When he was sure Arthur was gone, he turned around and jumped slightly when he saw his brother standing right in front of him, his arms crossed, and a judgmental look on his face.

"What?" Alfred asked, defensively. Matthew dropped his arms.

"Do you really think that was the best way to tell Arthur he drunkenly kissed you?" Alfred groaned and walked past his brother, returning to the kitchen to finish his food. Matthew was hot on his heels.

"Whatever man! Why does it matter how I tell him? He knows! Problem solved…" Alfred grumbled, taking his seat. Matthew rolled his eyes. His brother seemed to have no social grace. Sometimes he wondered why so many people were infatuated with him.

"Problem not solved. I'll let your crass way of telling Arthur about the kiss slide, but have you given any thought about Kiku?" Matthew asked pointedly, taking the seat across from Alfred, where Arthur previously sat.

"Wha' abou' Kiku?" Alfred asked his mouth full of pancakes. Matthew wiped the disgusted look off his face and quickly answered his brother.

"He's your boyfriend. He should know that Arthur, a guy who is obviously interested in you, drunkenly kissed you." Matthew said bluntly, trying to get through his brother's thick head. There was no use for subtlety when Alfred was involved.

"It's not like I cheated on him or kissed back!" Alfred defended. Matthew sighed.

"How long did the kiss last before you pushed him away?" Matthew inquired. Alfred looked at him strangely.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well if it lasted for only a second or maybe even two, before you pushed away, then I guess I won't pester you to tell him. So how long before you pushed away? And don't bother lying, you're horrible at it." Alfred sighed and looked away before hesitantly opening his mouth to answer his brother.

"Eh… I don't know Mattie!... Like one, two… six seconds…" Alfred cringed, anticipating his brother's reaction.

"Six seconds? Alfred!"

"I was shocked! I wasn't expecting it, ok! Sheesh. Chill out…" Matthew rolled his eyes and looked at Alfred with a hard look.

"Just promise me you'll tell him, ok?" Matthew asked. Alfred groaned but nodded.

"Alright, I'll… I'll tell him when I'm in Japan…"

"Good."

It was silent between the brothers for a moment. Matthew sipped his coffee and Alfred sulked. Upon noticing his brother's sullenness, Matthew smiled and decided to cheer him up.

"It's for the best Al. You know Kiku doesn't like secrets between the two of you." Alfred smiled a bit at this and nodded, even though his brother's words didn't exactly comfort him.

"Yeah… secrets." He mumbled lowly, trying to chuckle convincingly as his mind wandered over to thoughts of Antonio.

'_It happened before me and Kiku got together so it doesn't count as cheating… right?'_

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><p><strong>WOOHOO! I love writing dialogue between Matthew and Alfred! Matthew's character kinda acts like the voice of the readers! The level headed charactervoice of reason who can call out Alfred's obliviousness! Lol. Anyway, I hope ya'll enjoyed the chapter!**


	14. Harrison Ford vs Humphrey Bogart

**Well here I am again! Sorry it wasn't yesterday, I was planning on updating on the 16****th****, but I just got busy and couldn't do it until now at, oh jeeze, almost 1am? AH!**

**Anyway, I wanna talk to ya'll about something. Now, so far I've been very good at updating, and for awhile I've been mulling around an idea for a second multi-chap, and now I think it's developed enough to use. But I don't want to start a second multi-cha unless you guys want it. Because if I started a second story, 50% of my time would be spent of this story and the other 50% would be on the other, so updates wouldn't be as fast.**

**The second story would be another USUK AU and would deal with a controversial topic. It would take place with the characters in high school, and in this story it would be Alfred with the dramatic/angsty situation instead of Arthur. There'd be more love triangles, drama, fluff, humor. I don't have a summary and I don't wanna give too much away, but I will tell you that Francis, Arthur, and Matthew(and some others I haven't decided yet) are all friends in high school, and things get a bit crazy when Matthew's cousin randomly shows up, having run away. I can't/don't want to tell you the controversial topic, because I'm sure how I'm gonna introduce it in the story, whether it'll be flat out in the summary or in the story.**

**Anyway, let me know what you guys think about me starting a second multi chap!**

**Enjoy the chapter! I hope it's edited enough, cause I didn't spedn a lot of time editing since I wanted to update! I pormise I'll look over it again later when I have time and re-upload it!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Thirteen: Harrison For vs. Humphrey Bogart<strong>

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><p>"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine..."<p>

"Dude, are you gonna do that the whole movie?" Arthur looked over to Alfred who was sitting next to him on his couch, with a slightly annoyed look.

"Do what?" Arthur asked innocently, shrugging his shoulders and looking back towards the screen. Alfred rolled his eyes.

"You keep mumbling the lines of the movie with the actors! I let it slide during the narration, but if you're going to do this the whole movie, can we at least turn the volume up? Waaaay up! Cause its annoying!" Alfred whined, but Arthur could hear a bit of playfulness in his voice, letting him know that Alfred wasn't too mad.

"Sorry, I just really like this film." Arthur let out a small chuckle and turned up the volume a bit. As they watched the movie, Arthur refrained from quoting any lines, and instead mouthed along a couple times. Whenever he did though, he'd find Alfred looking at him with a teasing smirk.

But other than that, things were… things were nice. The silence between them was so comfortable as they contentedly watched 'Casablanca.' Arthur even found himself furtively stealing glances towards Alfred, studying the boy's expression to see if he could figure out what he thought of the movie.

He really wanted Alfred to like this movie.

"It doesn't matter if he likes it… he has a boyfriend, remember."

Arthur sucked in a breath and his body instantly stiffened, and his face paled.

**6 years ago**

"Arthur, hurry up! It's only a little further!" Peter ran further down the trail, leaving Arthur in his dust, panting as he tried to keep up.

"Right… do you think we could slow down? Pace ourselves maybe?" Arthur slowed to a stop, bending over and putting his hands to his knees as he breathed out heavily. He could here Peter grown as the young boy marched his way over to him.

"Couldn't... Couldn't we have stayed at my house… or gone to yours again? I hate hiking…" Arthur looked up at Peter who was rolling his eyes, and grabbed his water bottle, taking a big swig of it.

"But your house is sooo boring, and we always go to my house! You just need to get in shape! Now then, let's get going!" Peter said, poking Arthur in the chest. Arthur groaned.

"Fine, fine… But next time I get to choose what we do…"

**Present day**

"Hey, are you ok?"

Arthur snapped out of his daze and looked over to see Alfred with a concerned look.

"Uh… yeah. I'm fine." Arthur said, not very convincingly. Alfred continued to look at him concerned.

"You're… you're not lying, right? Like… like you're not seeing or hearing anything?" Alfred asked hesitantly. Arthur sighed and looked away.

"Don't worry about it, Alfred." Arthur said firmly, giving the younger man a reassuring smile. Alfred reluctantly nodded and smiled back, turning his attention back to the screen. Arthur sighed and prepared to ignore any voices.

"Wow lying. Not a great way to start a relationship huh?"

"But then again, he's never been good at relationships, has he?"

"Just a bunch of drunken one night stands."

Arthur swallowed hard and kept his gaze on the movie, telling himself his same mantra over and over in his head.

'_They're not real. I am in control…'_

But it was always hard to ignore them. Especially when they brought up such intimate issues, trying to egg him on, acknowledge them. Look at them, speak to them.

Why couldn't they leave just leave him alone?

"We love you Arthur! You're my best friend! I miss you, do you miss me?"

Arthur gulped his body stiffening. Peter was always the hardest to forget.

"Arthur! Stop ignoring me, you big jerk!"

Even though Peter hadn't been seen or heard in years, it wasn't until almost two weeks ago that he reappeared. That day at the café` had been the first time Peter had shown himself in almost 5 years.

"Arthur, are you sure you're ok?" Alfred asked again, having snatched the remote from the coffee table and paused the movie. Arthur abruptly nodded, his face twitched and his arm spasmed slightly, hitting Alfred lightly. Alfred, who now knew a bit about Arthur's schizophrenia, ignored it.

"I told you, its fine." Arthur said bluntly, making a grab for the remote, but Alfred pulled it away.

"Another lie, Arthur, really?"

"Arthur, it's ok. If… if you're having an episode, I understand." Alfred said earnestly, placing his hand on Arthur's arm, practically holding his wrist.

"Aw, isn't he sweet? No wonder you like him, Arthur!"

"I'm sorry... I'm just not used to talking about these things to anyone besides my mum and Francis." Arthur said a bit embarrassed. Alfred smiled and shrugged.

"Don't worry about it. But, you're gonna be ok, right? Like, you're not gonna pass out like last time or anything, right?" Alfred cringed slightly as he voiced his concern. Arthur shook his head.

"No… that type of episode doesn't happen too often actually… I should be fine." Arthur knew he was half lying, he didn't know if he'd be totally fine, but Alfred seemed to buy it, and calmed down, which was good enough for.

"OK, cool, so on with the movie?" Alfred asked, his thumb hovering over the play button on the remote. Arthur smiled and nodded, and the movie was once again playing on the screen.

"Oh, you'll be fine? Sure you will, Arthur. When are you not fine?"

"Hey, there's no need to be snippy with him!"

'… _They're not real. I am in control…'_

As the movie went on, Arthur focused all his attention to Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman and eventually the voices became more distant and softer, as if they weren't even there anymore. It was easy with Alfred's hand still on his wrist.

When the movie ended and the credits rolled, Alfred let out a long, tire, contented sigh and leaned deeper into Arthur's couch. Arthur smirked and leaned back as well, rolling his head over lazily to look at Alfred.

"So… what did you think?" Arthur asked. Alfred smiled and lolled his head to meet Arthur's gaze.

"It was… really good." Alfred said smiling, Arthur grinned.

"I knew you'd like it." He said smugly. Alfred smirked.

"Yeah… but it's not as good as 'A New Hope.' Sorry bro." Alfred teased.

"Oh please, you can't honestly think a 'Star Wars' film is better than 'Casablanca.' You're just a bloody git." Arthur said his voice mirthful and blunt. Alfred grinned.

"Whatever dude! 'Star Wars' kicks this movies ass!"

"How can you think that? Who can beat _Humphrey Bogart_? One of the most amazing actors and sexiest men! Ever!"

"Well… Harrison Ford comes to mind, obviously." Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Harrison Ford? Please! He's so overrated!" Alfred laughed but before he could retort, the door to Arthur's apartment opened to reveal Francis and Matthew. Francis smirked at the two, while Matthew's instantly locked on Alfred's hand, which was still on Arthur's wrist.

"_Bonjor, mon chers!_ What do we have here?" Francis asked mischievously, shutting and locking the door behind him. Matthew gave Alfred a 'What the fuck are you doing look?' gesturing towards Alfred's hands with his eyes. Alfred instantly flushed and coughed, quickly removing his hand from Arthur's wrist and sitting upright, only now just noticing his close proximity with Arthur. Matthew shook his head.

"Nothing… we-we were just watching 'Casablanca.'" Arthur explained quickly, sitting up as well, slightly glaring at the meddling look Francis was throwing him.

"Oh, Al, you didn't tell me you were coming over here today." Matthew stated, subtly giving Alfred more disapproving looks. Alfred, still flushed, scratched the back of his neck as his head shrunk down to his shoulder.

"I must've forgotten to tell you." Alfred said, chuckling nervously as he avoided his brother's gaze.

"You told me you were spending the day packing for tomorrow." At this point, Matthew must've forgotten Francis and Arthur were still in the room with them, as he continued to interrogate his twin. Alfred looked pleadingly at Francis and Arthur, before looking back over to his brother with more confidence.

"Well I finished, so I came here." Matthew was about to say something else, but was stopped by Francis placing his hand on his shoulder.

"_D`etendre, mon amour! _There's nothing to be _bouleverse`."_ Francis said, attempting to calm his boyfriend down. Matthew sighed and nodded, and looked towards Alfred apologetically. Alfred smiled, accepting it silently.

"So, Francis, why are you here? You told me you and Matthew would be out for the evening." Arthur asked, a bit annoyed that they ruined the atmosphere between him and Alfred.

"Well the projector for the movie we were going to see broke, and since there was nothing else playing we wanted to see, we came back here." Matthew explained. Francis nodded, confirming the story.

"That sucks." Alfred mumbled, and the awkward silence began for several moments. Arthur looked at the time on his cell. It was almost nine.

"So what were _vous et_ Alfred planning on doing for the _le soir?"_ Francis asked, breaking the silence.

"Nothing really," Arthur said, looking over to Alfred. "maybe watching another movie?" Alfred met Arthur's gaze and nodded, agreeing.

"Do you guys wanna join us?" Alfred asked, genuinely friendly and a bit excited to have more company. Arthur inwardly groaned.

Francis and Matthew, both noticing that Arthur obviously did not want them to join, looked at each other with knowing looks.

"Uhm… actually, why don't we head home, Alfred? See if there's anything else we need to pack, and get to sleep since we have an early flight tomorrow." Matthew said, though he was hinting at something else, that Alfred, surprisingly, picked up on. Begrudgingly, Alfred nodded and stood.

"Yeah, let's go. Thanks for having me over Arthur!" Alfred said, slapping Arthur on the arm and fetching his coat.

"No problem." Arthur muttered.

"Let's go. Bye Arthur," Matthew leaned in and kissed Francis on the lips, "night Francis, I'll call you before I leave." Francis nodded and with that, the twins left.

"Care to _expliquent_ your intentions, _mon cher_?" Francis asked, slipping off his coat and taking a seat in the arm chair, adjacent to the couch. Arthur groaned, and leaned into the couch as deeply as he could, hoping he could sink away into the cushions.

"Nothing… I'm not trying to bloody seduce the boy!" Arthur defended, pressing his palms over his eyes. Francis grinned.

"Ah, but _tu_ would like too!" Francis laughed as he said this. Arthur glared and through one of the cushions at him.

"Fuck off, frog."

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><p><strong>Well, what did ya think? I hope it was good enough for ya'll! Thanks for reading! Lemme know about the second multi chap!<strong>


	15. Alfred's Personal Hell

**Hey! I was planning on working on an update and posting it yesterday, BUT yesterday I had my wisdom teeth removed and I wasn't expecting to feel so miserable and useless. I thought I'd just be in pain, but I'd have painkillers and would be able to handle it, but nope! I was in pure agony. But I felt better today, so I started working and I got a longer update for ya'll! This chapter focuses on Alfred, so Arthur doesn't make any appearances DX but he his mentioned.**

**Anyway, I think I will do the second story! I don't know when the first chapter will be up, but be on the look out! But also don't be surprised if you don't see it until after this one is done. Because I can't promise anything yet.**

**Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter! I hope it's long enough! I hope you don't think it's too dramatic or stupid. If you guys don't like it, I'll redo it.**

**In this chapter we get to see more of Alfred's life and back story. We know about Arthur and his past, so know here's some of Al's and Matthew's! Obviously Matthew is included, their twins, so they have a shared back story! We also get to meet their family! WOOHOO!**

**I hope I edited this enough. If not, tell me and I'll fix it and re-post!**

**By the way, thank you all so much for the support of this story and a second story! I and this story, would truly be nothing without you all! I love you guys!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Fourteen: Alfred's Personal Hell<strong>

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><p>Alfred always thought that if he ever had a personal hell, that it would be him, middle aged, a failed actor living in the slums, all the McDonalds in New York had burned down, and no matter where he went, all he could hear was Mungo Jerry's 'In the Summertime.'<p>

Unfortunately for Alfred, he now discovered he had a totally different and about a hundred times worse, personal hell. And it was him on a tiny plane that he couldn't get off, sitting next to Matthew, who wouldn't stop scolding him in the most condescending tone EVER.

"I just can't believe you, Alfred. Really? How can anyone be this oblivious?" Matthew said in a hushed, harsh whisper. Alfred looked away, an annoyed pout on his lips and his arms crossed childish and stubborn manner.

"You're just leading poor Arthur on. What if he develops serious feelings for you? What if he already has?" Matthew continued to press his brother with all kinds of questions that Alfred didn't have answers too. So instead of answering, Alfred stayed silent, hoping Matthew would eventually give up.

Unfortunately…

"That's just great Al. The silent treatment? Really? We're not eight anymore, grow up!"

Matthew didn't give up that easily. Ever since he started dating Francis, the younger twin's confidence and self esteem had shot up like a pistol. Which was a good thing, Alfred would admit, but sometimes..

'_Sometimes I miss the days when he was quiet and practically invisible…'_

Alfred knew it was mean to think this, but lately Matthew just seemed to get onto his case about every little thing he's done. It's not like he was trying to cheat on Kiku, or lead Arthur on, and Matthew knew that. In fact, it made Alfred feel like shit that his own brother thought he was this cheating tease. Sure he cushioned it by saying it was unintentional, but Alfred was beginning to think that Matthew didn't believe it was unintentional.

"Are you even gonna look at me? Come on Al! This is serious; you need to deal with what you're doing. Have you even thought about how you're telling Kiku about the kiss?" Matthew was giving Alfred a very intense look that looked strange on his normally sweet face. Alfred glanced out of the corner of his eye and shrugged, looking away again. Matthew sighed.

"Look, will you just lay off? I don't need this from you, Mattie." Alfred said rather irritably as he glared angrily at his brother.

"Hey, if I don't say anything, than you'd just keep on-" That's it, Alfred decided.

"Mattie, stop!" Alfred looked Matthew straight in the eye, causing the younger to shut his mouth and let his brother talk.

"I know you're only trying to help, but right now you're just making me feel like shit." Alfred said seriously. Matthew's face fell when he heard his brother say this, instantly feeling horrible.

"Al, I-"

"No, let me finish… when you say things like that… like 'how can you be so stupid' or oblivious, and tell me I'm an unintentional tease… I feel like shit, and sometimes think that maybe you don't actually think it's unintentional and that I'd actually try to do those kind of things to Kiku and Arthur. I know you have good intentions, but right now I really just need your support. So please respect that, because you're my brother and I really don't want to hate you." When he finished, Alfred looked away again. Matthew looked at his brother shocked and hurt. Shocked that his brother felt that way and hurt because he caused it.

"Al…" Matthew placed his hand gently on Alfred's arm, causing the older twin to look his brother in the eye.

"I'm so sorry… I only want what's best for you. So if what's best for you is my support, then that's what I'll give you. I don't want to hate you or have you hate me either." Alfred smiled gratefully at his brother's words and placed his hand on top of Matthew's hand, which was still on his arm.

"Thanks, Mattie." Alfred leaned back in his seat and let his head lean against Matthew's shoulder. Matthew smiled, happy that Alfred had told him how he felt, and that things were good between them again. Feeling comfortable with each other, the twins fell asleep against each other for the rest of the flight, causing several of the female flight attendants to 'Aaawww!' when they walked past them.

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><p>Winter in Ontario was probably one of the best places to be. Especially for Christmas. Everywhere looked like a winter wonderland. And in their father's hometown of Kleinburg, almost every street looked like it was taken out of a story book. Every window would be frosted perfectly, every tree would be sprinkled and dusted in snow and every home and store would have twinkling lights strung about, complete with wreaths on light poles and doors, and Christmas carolers dressed in time period 1800s costumes.<p>

Matthew and Alfred were happy to come home. Not even caring that they'd have to cram into their dad's pick-up truck for the hour drive from the airport in Toronto. (It would be shorter, but since it was heavy winter with icy roads, they knew their father would refuse to go over 40.)

Their father, Rodney Williams, was ecstatic to see his two sons. The three of them hadn't seen each other since the beginning of their sophomore year, when he dropped them off at the airport. The moment he saw them he power walked over, took their bags from them and hugged them. Their dad, despite his big/strong/gruff exterior, was a bit of a gushy, sweet heart on the inside.

"The three Williams men together again!" Rodney professed proudly with a wide grin. His hazel eyes bright as he ruffled his son's ashen hair, that they inherited from him.

"Gagh! Dad! I told you, it's Jones now!" Alfred whined, as he stubbornly tried to fix his mussed hair. Matthew chuckled and rolled his eyes as he and Alfred followed Rodney to his pick up. Their dad let out a hearty laugh and shook his head as he carried his sons' bags.

"You may be Alfred Jones on stage and in films, but to me you're always gonna be Alfred Williams." Alfred groaned, but smiled nonetheless. Just happy to be home finally. Well actually, just happy to be an hour away from home.

As they climbed into their dad's truck, Matthew and Alfred fought over who would get the window seat and who'd have to sit in the middle. In the end, they managed to annoy their father enough, causing Rodney to randomly grab one of them by the collar of their jacket and push them into the middle seat.

"This is so unfair dude! I was in the middle last time!" Alfred grumbled as he begrudgingly buckled himself in. Matthew glared as he hopped into the window seat.

"No! _I _was in the middle last time!" Alfred made a face and shook his head.

"Whatever! Besides, you got the window seat on the plane!"

"So? You're going to Japan! You'll have your own window seat then!"

Rodney grinned, amused at his sons and started the car, pulling out into the road.

"If you two don't behave, I'll make you both sit in the middle." He threatened. Matthew and Alfred both looked at his quizzically.

"What? How?" Matthew asked.

"Yeah, how can we both sit in the middle?" Rodney grinned at Alfred and Matthew.

"Ever hear of a lap?"

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><p>When they finally arrived at their old house, Alfred had never been so happy to see the two story, yellow house he grew up in, with its giant lawn covered in snow, and borderline tacky Christmas decorations and lights decorating the house and lawn.<p>

As soon as the truck was parked, Alfred practically jumped out of the truck, climbing over Matthew in the process, and let himself fall back into the snow. Matthew looked at his brother amused and rolled his eyes.

"You're so immature." Alfred laughed and leaned up slightly on his elbow, holding his hand out.

"Whatever, help me up, bro?" Matthew smirked and shook his head.

"Uhm no! The moment I grab onto your hand is the moment you pull me down into the snow. " Matthew explained, obviously Alfred has done this one too many times before. The older twin looked at his brother with puppy dog eyes, and eventually Matthew sighed and gave Alfred his hand anyway, laughing as he fell into the three feet deep snow.

Alfred laughed and tackled his brother, swiping snow at him with his arms. Matthew grinned, pushing Alfred away, and made a couple snow balls and began to throw them at his brother. An all out snow ball war was about to start, but the two were interrupted by their dad's booming laugh. They looked up from the ground to see Rodney standing there, grinning, and holding their bags.

"There's plenty of time to act like idiots later. Now get inside, your grandparents are waiting." Alfred sighed and stood up, pulling Matthew up with him as well and the two followed Rodney inside, where they were instantly met with warmth from the furnace, and the smell of chocolate chip cookies and cinnamon. Alfred grinned and nudged Matthew with his elbow. Matthew met his brother's gaze with a knowing look.

Grandma was baking!

"Mattie! Alfie! Is that you?" An old woman emerged from the kitchen and into the entry way, her gray hair down and pulled back, out of her kind, wrinkled face, and an apron covered in flour and cinnamon wrapped around her waist.

"Hey, Gran!" Matthew greeted, instantly taking the old woman into his arms. Alfred grinned and tried to sneak past the into the kitchen, hoping to see if there were any cookies ready or at least some sort of bowl or spoon to look.

"Not so fast Alfie! Don't think I don't know what you're after!" Alfred sheepishly turned around and laughed nervously. Embarrassed he'd been caught.

"Come and give your grandmother a hug! THEN you can have some goodies!" The old woman smiled joyously as Alfred smiled and scooped the little woman into his arms.

"Oh, I missed you boys so much!"

"Aw, I missed you too, Gran!" When they pulled away, their Grandmother, Judith Williams, gave their father a playfully stern look.

"Oh Roddy, how can you let such sweet boys go live in New York!" Judith gently smacked her son, while 'tsk-ing' him.

"Ah, ma, they can handle themselves!" Rodney insisted. Judith nodded and smiled, a bit condescendingly at Rodney, before turning her attention to her grandsons.

"Why don't you two go and sit with your Pop-Pop, he's in the den, and I'll bring out the cookies when they're done baking." Their grandmother then returned to the kitchen. Alfred and Matthew stood for a bit awkwardly, before their dad ushered them to go to the den.

"Come on, go say hi. I'll go put your bags up in your room." Rodney then disappeared down a hall and the two could hear his footsteps as they bounded up to the next floor.

"Shall we then?" Matthew asked, reluctantly. Hesitantly Alfred nodded and they walked into the den where an old man, their grandfather, Norman Williams, sat in an arm chair, CNN was on the tv, but he wasn't really paying attention, he was sort of dazed, half asleep basically. Alfred and Matthew both looked at each other, neither really wanting to say anything.

It wasn't that they disliked or hated their grandfather. Their grandfather, who they affectionately called Pop-Pop, was one of their favorite people in the world; when they were growing up, whenever he'd visit, Alfred's and Matthew's faces would light up. Their grandfather, Norman, was so alive when they were younger. He'd take them camping and fishing. Do all sorts of magic tricks, like pulling coins and candy from their ears, and doing cool card tricks. He was sharp as a tack too, able to quote books and movies, and come up with snappy comebacks and one-liners. Norman was Alfred and Matthew's hero growing up.

But when they were 12, Norman's mind grew weak. He became forgetful and slow. Sometimes he wouldn't know where he was or even what year it was. Some days he wouldn't even know who Alfred and Matthew were, or he'd mistake them for Rodney or his older brother, who had passed away long ago.

Seeing their beloved Pop-Pop this way, with Alzheimer's, was too sad for Alfred and Matthew. Seeing their hero so lost and weak, it was too depressing.

Alfred took in a deep breath and stepped further into the room, making his presence known. Norman looked up and there was a slight twinkle of recognition. Alfred and Matthew smiled. Maybe this time his Alzheimer's wouldn't make him forget them.

"Hey Pop-Pop!" Alfred greeted and Matthew followed him in, standing behind his brother. Their grandfather smiled, remembering his grandsons.

"Big Al! And you, Matt, don't be so shy!" Norman stood, a bit shakily, and stepped forward, bringing his two grandsons into a hug. Matthew and Alfred helped him sit back down in the chair, before taking seats on the couch adjacent to it.

"Now tell me, how's your…" Their grandfather thought for a moment, his speech slow and shaky, but that was normal for him. "How's your school been going?"

"School's great, Pop-Pop, I think I might've gotten A's on my Organic Chemistry and Calculus finals." Matthew answered, smiling proudly. His grandfather grinned as well.

"What about you, big Al? How's that acting thing you're doing going?" Norman asked. Alfred knew his grandfather didn't really consider acting an actual major or career, but smiled at the fact that his grandfather was at least trying.

"Good, I was a featured ensemble member of a couple musicals, and I got to be juror number 7 in '12 Angry Men.' I'm sure Gran told you, right?" Norman looked a bit confused and lost for a moment, trying to recall any sort of memory. Alfred looked at Matthew nervously.

"Ah… It must've slipped my mind… '12 Angry Men.' I remember seeing that in theatres with your grandmother." Before Alfred or Matthew could respond, Rodney and Judith came in, Judith carrying a tray with warm, fresh cinnamon chocolate cookies and a pitcher of milk with five glasses, and set it down on the coffee table.

"Judy, do you remember when we saw '12 Angry Men?'" Norman asked. Judith smiled, used to her husband's random questions.

"Yes, it was a very good film." The five of them sat, enjoying the milk and cookies and talking and laughing. All enjoying the fact that Norman's mind hadn't been to hazy or forgetful today. It was a good thing they enjoyed it while they could though, because unfortunately, it didn't last long.

"Now, where is Henri? I haven't seen her all day." Rodney asked, a smile on his face. Rodney awkwardly coughed and looked away. Judith sighed and grabbed her husband's hand. Matthew and Alfred looked at each other sadly.

"Henrietta's not here, dad." Rodney said softly, staring at his hands. He cast a glance at his sons, and was sad to see their fallen expressions.

"What're you talking about, Roddy? She was just here yesterday." Norman was obviously not understanding what was going on, lost in his mind, somewhere in the past.

"Look, she's not here, ok!" Alfred didn't to snap or to say it so harshly, but the subject his grandfather was pressing on was touchy. Emotional for everyone there. His grandfather looked at him a bit shocked and hurt from the outburst.

"I… I'm sorry I didn't mean to…" Trailing off from his apology on account of not knowing what to say, Alfred left the room. Trying to keep his composure until he got to his room, Alfred hurried up the stairs and shut the door to his old room behind him.

Frustrated, he kicked his bag which was by the door, and threw himself onto his bed, pressing his face deep into the pillows to muffle his yell. After a moment he dug out his phone and dialed the number of the one person he wanted to talk to.

It rang a few times, before the other line picked up, and a familiar voice came out.

"Alfred? What's going on? It's 3AM here…"" Alfred smiled slightly at the familiar, annoyed voice.

"Kiku, hey… Sorry, I forgot about the time difference when I called… Should I call later?" Alfred said, his voice shaky and sounding as if he were on the verge of crying.

"What's wrong? You sound upset" Kiku asked, his annoyance gone out of concern for his boyfriend, but Alfred could tell he was still tired.

"Uhm… it's nothing it's just…" Alfred trailed off when he heard a knock at the door, and his father's voice call out to him from behind it.

"Al, can I come in?"

"Alfred?" Kiku asked, wondering if his boyfriend was still on the phone. Alfred paused for a moment and covered his phone with his hand.

"Just a sec, dad!" He then turned his attention back to his phone.

"Sorry Kiku, my dad's at the door. I should probably talk to him… But I'll call you later… at a reasonable hour." Alfred laughed slightly when he said this, but Kiku could tell it was forced.

"Ok Alfred… Are you going to be ok?"

Alfred smiled, feeling better now that he had talked to Kiku.

"Yeah… I will be. Go back to bed. Get some sleep, ok? Bye."

"Bye Alfred. I love you."

"I love you too, bye." Alfred ended the call and shoved the phone in his pocket. In a slightly better mood he answered his father who was still waiting outside his door.

"Dad, you can come in." He called out. His door opened and his dad came in and sat down at the foot of Alfred's bed, placing a hand on his son's leg. Alfred craned his neck to look over at him.

"I know I shouldn't have snapped, ok? It's not like he'll remember anyway…" Alfred said bitterly, laying his head on his pillow. He heard his father sigh.

"It's not about that, though… you're not totally off the hook for yelling at Pop-Pop." Alfred groaned.

"I'm sorry, ok? I didn't mean too… it's just… how can he not remember something so god-damn important!" Alfred muttered lowly, but his father still heard.

"It's not his faul-"

"I know!"

"Then why are you so upset and angry? I thought you were over this. You told me you were over this. That you accepte-" Alfred glared, his eyes tearing up and he shot up from his laying position to sit up, looking straight at his father.

"She was my mom! How could you ever believe or think that I could ever accept that she left us! She left you, and left me and Mattie!" Alfred wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his sweatshirt and looked away from his father.

"Alfred… I know it's hard, but you have to let this go." Alfred glared at the floor and shook his head.

"How can I let this go? She was my mother, and she left us because of me and Mattie…" Alfred said, his words piercing through the air. He looked over to see Matthew standing in the door way; a sad expression on his face.

"I hate her…" Alfred confessed. His father sighed and wrapped his arm around Alfred's shoulders and squeezing tightly, but not painfully. Rodney then got off the bed and walked out the room, placing a comforting hand on Matthew's shoulder before leaving down the hallway.

Alfred looked over to Matthew who looked so sad.

"Mattie. I'm sorry, but-" Matthew shook his head, stopping Alfred from continuing.

"It's ok if you hate mom… I used to too. But promise me… promise me you'll try to forgive her one day. Please?" Alfred nodded and Matthew entered the room, closing the door and sat beside Alfred.

They sat in Alfred's room and talked for awhile, eventually they ended up lying down next to each other, only a foot apart since Alfred's bed was only a double. After a few hours of talking, laughing, and comforting each other. Eventually they ended up lying together in silence, and Alfred began to think of all the other things bothering him. There was Arthur's drunken kiss, which he would be telling Kiku soon in a couple weeks. But then there was Antonio… Alfred had no idea what to think of that. It had been so long since it happened. About three years. Should he tell Kiku that too since he was telling him about the kiss with Arthur? He thought about talking to Mattie about it, but he knew if he did, Mattie would go ballistic.

"Mattie… I think I fucked up…"

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><p><strong>Cliffhanger!... Sort of… lol. Anyway, I hope you all liked it! Hope it was long enough for you all. Hope you guys didn't totally hate it! Hope you guys liked that Kiku has finally made it into the story! Tell me what you thought! Thanks for reading! I'll be trying to update soon!<strong>


	16. Matthew Withdrawal

**Well here I am, once again, with an update! YAY! I wanna say, you guys are awesome! I officially have an average of 17 reviews per chapter! AAAH! That's almost 20! So thank you all sooooo much!**

**Anyway, here's the newest chapter! Hope I edited enough! Sorry for the shortness.**

**My OCs from last chapter. Here's their ages, just because. Idk. C:**

**Rodney Williams – 52**

**Judith Williams – 73**

**Norman Williams – 76**

**Henrietta 'Henri' Williams – 48 (I know, she wasn't actually IN the chapter, but whatever!)**

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><p><strong>Chapter Fifteen: Matthew Withdrawal<strong>

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><p>"I don't understand. Why can't you come home for the holidays?" Arthur sighed for what must've been the millionth time for this one phone conversation with his mother.<p>

"Mum, I told you, I have to work. But I'll be home for New Years, ok?" Arthur knew his mother wouldn't be happy that this would be their first Christmas apart, and to be honest, Arthur wasn't happy either. But his boss, Roderich Edelstein, had made it clear that Arthur, Yao, and a few other lowly employees had to come in on Christmas Eve to finish up some last minute filing and paperwork that had been put aside by the office big wigs.

"Fine, but at least call on Christmas morning." His mother insisted.

"Yes, that's fine-"

"-And on Christmas Eve!" Arthur sighed, again!

"Yes, mum, I will. Now, I have to go now, tell Carl I say hi." Carl being Arthur's step father, his mother having married him when Arthur graduated high school and left for college. Arthur checked his watch and silently cursed. He was going to be late.

"Do you want to talk to him? He's right here!" Arthur resisted the urge to groan.

"No, I can't, but I'll call you guys later, alright? Bye." Arthur said, a bit hastily, hoping his mother would get the hint. He heard his mother laugh slightly.

"Alright, fine. I love you, bye! Merry Christmas." Arthur smiled.

"Love you too. Merry Christmas." Arthur finally hung up the phone and hastily got up and grabbed his things, hurrying to get out the door. Why his mother insisted on calling him on his obsolete land line, he'll never know.

When he finally arrived to work, he cursed. He was three minutes late. Fuck. Roderich was gonna kill him.

As stealthily as possible, Arthur made his way to his desk in, what everyone called, the assistants' pen, hoping to not get caught.

"Kirkland, you're late." Arthur froze as the sound of the horrid Austrian accent that all the interns and assistants feared.

"Mr. Edelstein." Arthur greeted nervously. His face twitched. Roderich looked at Arthur sternly and crossed his arms, an eyebrow quirked.

"I'm so sorry, Roderich. My mum was keeping me on the land line. I swear it'll never happen again!" Arthur pleaded. Though Roderich was generally a good boss, he was rather strict with punctuality and rules. There was a rumor around the assistants' pen that he was born with a stick up his ass. Arthur wasn't entirely sure that he thought the rumor was false.

Roderich sighed and nodded.

"Since this is your first time showing up late, I'll let it slide." Roderich said. Arthur smiled gratefully.

"Thank you, sir."

"You're a good employee Arthur. I've been watching you." Roderich began walking and signaled for Arthur to walk with him. Anxiously, Arthur picked up his pace and followed his boss.

"Right now you're just an assistant, but since the expansion we've been looking for a few new copy editors. Play your cards right and you'll be one of them. Now then, get to work now." Roderich gave Arthur a small smile and left for his office. Arthur stood there frozen for a few moments. A copy editor's job would be amazing. Better salary, better hours, his own office, or well, his own cubicle. But still. This news definitely made Arthur's day. Probably his week. It even made up for the fact that he had to work during the holidays. Smiling he pulled out his cell, and before he even knew what he was doing, found himself about to send a text to Alfred.

**Arthur:**

**Might get promoted to a copy editor!**

Arthur paused. He accepted the fact that he had some sort of feelings for the boy, but was he really about to have Alfred, someone he'd only known for a month, maybe a little more, be the first person he tell such amazing news too? Arthur sighed, and deleted the message.

'_He has a boyfriend.' _He reminded himself.

'_He wasn't even ACTUALLY holding my hand.'_

Arthur shook his thoughts from his head and, like Roderich said, got to work.

As the day went on, Arthur decided he wouldn't tell anyone about the possible promotion, not wanting to jinx it.

But by the time his lunch break came around, he found himself dying to tell at least one soul the news. And Arthur kept feeling his fingers itching to type a text on his phone to Alfred.

Fortunately by the time it came to his lunch break, Arthur checked his phone to see he had a message from Alfred via Facebook.

**To: Arthur**

**Hey how have u been? Me and Mattie have been chillin' at home. We have to hang when im back from Japan.**

**From future famous actor**

**Alfred**

It had been a week since Alfred and Matthew left for home. Every day since Francis has been a bit mopey, missing his boyfriend. Francis had mentioned something about going to Canada to spend New Years with Matthew.

Arthur walked to the break room to meet Yao for lunch, when he arrived he found Yao sitting at one of the tables, his lunch already out. Arthur grabbed the lunch he brought today from the fridge and joined him.

"Hey, Yao." Arthur greeted, Yao nodded in response.

"Hey. So did you hear that Edelstein's looking for some new copy editors, aru?" Arthur smiled when Yao said this and nodded.

"Yeah… actually, uh… he told me himself this morning. He also said that if I 'play my cards right' I'll be promoted to one of the positions." Arthur felt he sounded a bit smug, but Yao didn't seem to care.

"That's great Arthur." Yao said, a smile creeping on his lips.

"How'd you hear about it?"

"Roderich told me that I was being considered for promotion as well, aru. I've been asking around and apparently all the people who've been asked to work over the holidays and accepted are being considered, aru." Arthur grinned, suddenly grateful that he was asked to work on Christmas Eve. Things were finally turning around. Except for the fact that he seriously liked an unavailable guy.

But that aside.

Everything seemed a bit better in his life at the moment. Job wise.

When Arthur finally arrived home, he found Francis laying on the couch the TV playing some mindless show.

"_Bonjour, mon cher…"_ Francis greeted, rather joylessly. Arthur rolled his eyes. Was Francis really that dependant on his boyfriend?

"Would you chin up? Bloody frog." Arthur muttered the last part, but he had a feeling Francis heard it anyway. Arthur went into the adjoined kitchen to make his usual cup of tea.

"Why are you so unsympathetic? Arthur, I am in _agonie!"_ Francis said, melodramatically throwing a hand to his forehead. Arthur rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"Please. Grow up, will you? Do you think Matthew is acting this ridiculous?" Arthur asked, doing his usual tea making routine. Francis moaned.

"If he loves me, he is!" Arthur rolled his eyes again.

"You're pathetic." Arthur murmured, loud enough for his roommate to hear.

"_Mais, mon cher,_ it is only because I am_ pasionnes! _Your snobby English heart wouldn't understand!" Arthur groaned and decided it would be best to instead just ignore Francis' whining and left, bringing his tea into his room. He could vaguely hear Francis calling out about his heart being on Matthew withdrawal, but decided to keep ignoring him.

Once he got to his room, he opened his laptop and went onto his facebook, deciding he would reply to Alfred's message. Once he was logged on and looking through his inbox, a chat box popped up with Alfred.

**Alfred: Hey!**

Grinning slightly, Arthur typed a reply.

**Arthur: Hey back.**

**Alfred: Get my message?**

**Arthur: Yeah. I was actually about to reply just now, but then you message me.**

**Alfred: Oh woops :P Guess you don't have to reply now c: So howve you been?**

**Arthur: Pretty good, actually. I'm up for a promotion at work. **

**Alfred: DUDE! THAT'S AWESOME SAUCE!**

Arthur smirked and let out a short, quick laugh. Awesome sauce? Rolling his eyes he returned to typing.

**Arthur: Thanks. So how have you been? Having fun on break, are we?**

**Alfred: Oh yea totes! My dad rented some snowmobiles, and me and Mattie have been playin' hockey! **

**Arthur: Seems fun. Does Matthew miss Francis?**

**Alfred: Yea but not too bad. Why?**

**Arthur: Francis has been moping around the apartment all day, EVERY day since you two left.**

**Alfred: Oh my gosh! Dude that's hilarious! Poor Francis!**

Arthur smirked.

**Arthur: Poor Francis? Poor me! I'm the one who has to listen to him whine about him being on "Matthew withdrawal" all day.**

**Alfred: Mattie withdrawal? Lol I cant wait to tell Mattie that one. Anyway gotta go. The whole family is going out to the ice rink for this big town Christmas party. I talk to you later, yea?**

**Arthur: Yeah. Talk to you later.**

Arthur then saw that Alfred had signed off. Smiling he logged off as well, not really in the mood for facebook. Instead he decided to go back out, to see if Francis was doing any better.

"Francis, get up. I'm tired of you moping around all the time." Arthur offered his hand, and the Frenchmen lazily took it, and was instantly pulled up. Arthur's face twitched slightly as he got Francis standing.

"Come on, let's go find some bar or a movie." Arthur said a bit annoyed since he didn't really wanna go out. But seeing Francis' face light up, on account that he usually had to drag Arthur kicking and screaming to go out with him in the evenings, made it worth it.

"_Oui, oui! _Just let me go get ready! You change too! I know this small laid back club in Manhattan!"

Arthur groaned and returned to his room to change out of his work clothes begrudgingly.

The things you do for friends.

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><p><strong>MUAHAHAHAAAAAA! I left the last chapter on a cliffhanger and didn't answer it in this one! Suck on it bitches! Woah, sorry, that was a little too far! I apologize! Lol. Anyway, I hope you don't hate me too much for prolonging the Antonio mystery! By the way, I gotta say that this is one of my all time FAVORITE chapter titles for this story! Matthew Withdrawal! Lol. Anyway, what do you guys think?<strong>


	17. Green Met Blue

**Hey! Here it is! Another chapter! Are you guys gonna finally find out what happened between Al and Antonio? Who knows! Read to find out!**

**If any of you are interested, that second multi-chap that I mentioned earlier is up with its first two chapters! It's USUK and it's called 'Definition of Myself.' So check it out if you want!**

**I wish I had updated this faster, but like I said before. When and if I started a second multi fic, updates wouldn't be as fast. But it wasn't too long a wait, right?**

**Anyhow, enjoy! I hope you like it! I'm a bit on the fence on how this chapter turned out… :\**

**I hope I edited this enough!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Sixteen: Green Met Blue<strong>

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><p><strong>Three years ago<strong>

"Pleeaaaassssee! C'mon, Dad! Everyone who's anyone is gonna be there!" Alfred whined melodramatically as he tugged his father's arm. Matthew looked at his twin exasperatedly and rolled his eyes sighing. If Alfred kept this up, their dad would never let them go.

"Al, I told you, we're spending New Years together as a family, like we do EVERY year." Rodney said sternly, tugging his arm away from his sixteen year old son's death grip. Alfred groaned and crossed his arms, pouting like a child. Matthew decided now would be a good time for their father to hear from his sensible son.

"Dad, please just ignore Alfred-"

"Hey!"

"-and listen to me?" Matthew asked, trying to be respectful, feeling his approach would be better than his brother's. Their father sighed and nodded, signaling for Matthew to continue.

"Dad, this party is with all our friends and kids from school. It's not like we're going to some big college rager. Besides, don't you wanna spend New Year's Eve with Donna?" Matthew asked, raising his eyebrows in question when he mentioned their father's new girlfriend. Rodney blushed slightly, before composing himself. Their father stayed silent for several long, anticipating moments, before eyeing his two sons suspiciously.

"Where is this party happening?" He asked. Matthew and Alfred tried to conceal their grins, knowing their father was gonna let go.

"Antonio's house."

"Will his parents be there?"

"Yes."

Rodney stared down his sons.

*sigh*

"No…"

Their father hesitated for a moment, before continuing, knowing he could trust his sons.

"What time will you be home?"

"Uhm, well after the party, Antonio's letting friends crash there, so we were thinking of spending the night?" Alfred cringed as he said this, hoping it wouldn't be a deal breaker.

"Fine. You guys can go. But if I find out you were anywhere BUT Antonio's house, or that you two were drinking, you are both grounded. For two months!"

Matthew grinned as Alfred threw his arms around their father.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're so awesome Dad!" Rodney smirked and pushed his son off him, leaving the room.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You two are just lucky you have the best dad in the world." Once he left, Alfred high fived Matthew, jumping up and down excitedly.

"Dude, this is gonna be soooo tight! I can't believe you got him to agree!" Alfred continued ramble about the party, while Matthew sighed, knowing his brother was already off in his own little world and that there was no use in trying to talk to him now.

"Yeah, well it's easy when you're not whining like child…" Matthew muttered.

* * *

><p>Walking through the deep snow from their crappy van to Antonio's, Alfred was practically skipping, excited for his first New Year's party.<p>

"So, is Kiku gonna be at the party?" Matthew asked, attempting to sound sly, but failed. Alfred blushed and shook his head.

"Ah… no. I asked him to come with me, but he said he wasn't 'interested.' I'm still not sure if he was talking about the party or me." Alfred explained disappointedly, obviously a still a bit hurt that the guy he liked rejected him, in one way or another. Matthew could sense this.

"Oh… sorry. That must suck…"

Alfred shook his head and grinned.

"Nah… It's s'ok. It's not like he's my boyfriend or anything." Alfred muttered bitterly. Matthew raised his brow.

"Wha… But I thought you guys were dating?" Maybe he missed something, but still. The last few weeks at school Alfred and Kiku were always walking and hanging out with each other in passing time, eating lunch together, even going out for coffee or to see a movie. Once, while Kiku was over, Matthew had caught the two holding hands. Anyone would've assumed they were together.

"We are… kind of… but we're not in a relationship…" Alfred sighed as he said this and Matthew stopped walking, grabbing Alfred's shoulder to halt him as well.

"But you want to be, right? Does Kiku know that?" Alfred shrugged and stared at his shoes, which were covered in snow.

"Well… the last time we talked about it, Kiku said he wasn't ready for dating or a relationship, and that we should just 'hang out' for now…"

"Is it exclusive?"

Again, Alfred shrugged his shoulders, giving Matthew a look, saying that he had no idea. Matthew sighed and shook his head, and began to walk towards Antonio's house. Alfred fell into step with him.

Not knowing what else to say to his brother, Matthew remained silent and casted Alfred an apologetic look, as if to say "I'm sorry the guy you like doesn't want a relationship. It must suck." He hoped Alfred would be able to read it.

When they finally got inside, they were met with some sort of holiday/festive/party dance music. Alfred and Matthew guessed it was some sort of mix Antonio made or got special for the party. The house was almost packed with kids from their school, some standing in groups or hanging around. There was an open area with the lights turned off and furniture pushed back for dancing as well.

Before they could get farther into the party, Antonio emerged through the throng of people with a flushed and welcoming face. Matthew smiled, knowing that he was probably waiting, with his nose pressed against the window, for Alfred to arrive. Almost everyone, excluding Alfred, knew that Antonio really liked the oblivious idiot.

"Hey, you guys made it!" Antonio threw his arms around the Williams' twins' shoulders, bringing them in close, in a sort of half hug. Alfred grinned and slipped out, Matthew followed suit.

"Of course we did! Did you really think we'd miss your party, Dude?" Alfred said excitedly, but Matthew could tell he was still upset from their previous conversation about Kiku.

"Well I'm still glad you could make it! C'mon, I'll bring you guys to the coat room!" Antonio grabbed Alfred's hand, and wrapped his other hand around Matthew's wrist, and pulled them through the crowd and down a hallway, opening the door to a small guest room with coats strewn about the room, along with some snow boots piled in the corner. Slipping off their coats, Matthew and Alfred threw them onto the bed and followed Antonio out and back into the main party area where they talked for a bit and Antonio told them where everything was and what was going on where in the house. Like if they wanted to get away from the music and dancing, they could go down to the basement where people were either watching movies, talking, or making out.

Antonio eventually was pulled away from Matthew and Alfred when more guests arrived and needed to be shown to the coat room. Matthew was dragged off by a few of his friends from his advanced chemistry class, leaving Alfred to wander the party by himself.

As he stumbled through the throng of people, his mind began to think about Kiku, and his dissatisfaction with their current situation. It was hard for Alfred to know what the Japanese teen was thinking or feeling. Lately he Kiku had been acting weird around him… Alfred thought that it was because maybe Kiku just wasn't interested in him in that way, but didn't know how to tell him; making Alfred feel worse. And the worse he felt, the more beers he drank. And the more beers he drank only made him feel even worse, sadder, more confused, and more dazed.

Antonio, who was a just a little more than tipsy, but not pissed drunk, holding a bottle of Everclear alcohol, eventually found the boy, drunkenly sitting at the top of the stairs leading to the second story of his house, leaning against the railing with a plastic red cup, full with alcohol, in his hand.

"Al, are you… arrre you oook?" Antonio asked with an amused laugh, and sat down next to him. Alfred mumbled something incoherent and lolled his head to look at Antonio. His expression was one of utter despair, his eyes hazy and watery with tears.

Seeing the object of his affections like this triggered something in the Spaniards hazy mind.

"Hey… Alfred, what's wrong?" Though his words were slightly slurred, but not very noticeably, Antonio's tone was concerned. And somewhere in Alfred's drunken mind, he was able to pick up on it. Moaning melancholically, Alfred rested his head on Antonio's shoulder.

"Nno one… Nnnoo one wants m-me… I'mm worthhh… lessss." Alfred groaned, pressing his face against Antonio's neck in an awkward fashion. The brunette blushed and leaned into the touch.

"No you're not. Why would you think that?" Antonio carefully removed the alcohol from Alfred's hand, his mind semi-clear enough to know that Alfred's had enough to drink, and gently wrapped his arm around Alfred's waist, making it easier for the drunken boy to lean against him.

"Ki… Kikuu doesssnn't wannnt meh…. What'sss thhe point in anything iff the person yyou prracticallyyy llove… doessnn't want you?" Antonio wanted to laugh at the irony of Alfred's question, and took several long swigs of alcohol from the bottle he had. He leaned his head against Alfred's, turning his head in so that his lips brushed against his forehead, and the two sat in silence for several moments.

"You know, if Kiku can't see how amazing you are and realize how lucky he is to have your love… then he's an idiot… He doesn't deserve you…" Antonio murmured softly, his speech a bit more slurred as the affects of whatever type of alcohol that was in Alfred's cup kicked into his bloodstream. Alfred scoffed.

"I'm sserious, Alfred… you… you'rre amazzing! Yyou're ffunny… you cann make me laugh and smile even when I'mm mmad or sad… You make mee smile and feel warm whenever I ssee you… especially wwhen you smile…" Antonio began to ramble as Alfred slowly moved his head away from his shoulder to look at Antonio.

"I love your smile… I love when you'rre acting, how… how you llight up onn a stage… Alfred… I love you…" Antonio looked over to Alfred shyly, a heavy blush on his face. He had just confessed his feelings and Alfred was probably too drunk to remember it or even register what he had said. Thankfully Antonio was drunk enough to not care.

Alfred's breath hitched as he stared intensely at Antonio. In his depressed mood and drunken state, hearing those things from Antonio stirred something within him. And before either of them knew what was happening, Alfred placed his hands on Antonio's face and pulled him forward hastily, smashing their lips together and moving them against his hungrily.

Antonio's eyes widened for a split second before he fully joined in.

Possibly with even more want.

* * *

><p>The next day, in the late morning, the light began to peak through the blinds, hitting Alfred's closed eyes. Slowly he opened them, becoming aware that he was in a bed. It wasn't until he tried to move that he realized how shitty, how tired, how… <em>sore <em>he was. He groaned in pain and began to sit up, but noted that he wasn't wearing any clothes. In a panic he looked around and saw his clothes thrown around the floor… in Antonio's room.

Hesitantly, and very scared, Alfred looked over to see Antonio lying beside him, just waking up as well, his eyes fluttering open slowly. Green met blue.

Alfred choked slightly as he attempted to hold back his tears, finally realizing what had happened last night.

"Alfred… are you ok?"

He shook his head.

"I was a virgin…" Alfred mumbled dazedly. Antonio sucked in a breath; he'd always assumed that Alfred had already… he had been in such a long relationship with that guy Toris; everyone assumed that they had to have...

'_Fuck…' _Antonio thought. Never assume anything.

"Alfred, I'm so sorry…" Antonio said, placing his hand on Alfred's shoulder. Alfred didn't say anything though and instead got up from the bed and gathered his clothes, quietly dressing himself.

"Do… do you remember last night at all?" Antonio asked reluctantly. Alfred shook his head.

"All I remember is doing a few shots with Tino… after that it's all a blur… I must've blacked out or something…"

When Alfred said this, Antonio's heart fell. Alfred didn't remember anything. His confession, their kiss… Maybe it was just the alcohol, but Antonio could've sworn they had connected, that Alfred returned his feelings… But it was just the alcohol, Antonio told himself.

"Will you be ok?" Antonio asked quietly. Alfred shook his head again.

"How could I have done this… what about Kiku…?" Antonio didn't answer, knowing that Alfred had asked that for himself. But he felt as if someone stabbed him right in the heart when Alfred mentioned Kiku. There was no use; it seemed Alfred would always be hung up on Kiku. It didn't matter how he felt or what happened between them.

Meanwhile Alfred, who was just finishing dressing, began looking for his glasses, a few tears spilling out of his eyes. Making Antonio feel worse about the situation. Alfred eventually found them and placed them on his nose, again he looked away, sad and ashamed.

"I-if… if you want… we can just go on as if this never happened…" Antonio didn't want this, but he knew Alfred did.

"Yea… thanks. I-I should go…"

Alfred hurried out of the room and once he had the door closed behind him, let a sob escape.

He had just lost his virginity and he couldn't even remember it.

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><p><strong>Yikes, poor Alfred AND poor Antonio! Gosh, that situation is horrible for both! Don't worry; Toris was only a part of Alfred's back story as a previous relationship. Kiku isn't the only person he dated. But that's all Toris will be in the story. But in my mind, after Toris and Alfred broke up, Toris started dating Feliks! Lol. Anyway, what did you think? Really bad? Should I redo it? Am I bothering you guys with all these questions? XD<strong>

**P.S. You are all Prussia!**


	18. The Woman in the Polaroid

**I feel like I haven't updated in forever… Sorry… I've been busy, school started and my sister's leaving for college, so I've been spending time with her. Ugh, so busy!**

**Anyway, I'm sorry this is short, but hey, at least it's 1,500 words! That's pretty average, right? It probably isn't, but let's just pretend it is for now!**

**I'm so sorry that I haven't had time to reply to ya'll's reviews, but every time I have time for myself, I spent it either with my sister or writing this chapter and the newest chapter for 'Definition of Myself' I promise I'll reply to them eventually. Maybe over the weekend? But I can't promise anything! DX But thank you all for the reviews and love! I love you guys! You're ALL PRUSSIA!**

**I hope this is edited enough!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Seventeen: The Woman in the Polaroid<strong>

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><p>Christmas Eve spent in the office wasn't as bad as everyone expected. It wasn't exactly how anyone wanted to spend the holiday, but… it could've been worse.<p>

Since it was just assistants and interns working, the atmosphere was very laid back and casual. No one felt that they needed to jump through hoops for anyone, so they were able to leisurely do their work, chat, and listen to festive music.

Arthur yawned and stretched his limbs out, stiff from sitting at his desk for most of the day. Rubbing his eyes, he perked his ears up as another Christmas song began to play.

"Hmm…. What time is it?" Arthur asked, still rubbing his eyes tiredly as he swallowed another yawn. Yao looked up from his desk, across from Arthur's, looking at the time on his computer.

"Ah… 11:41, aru…" Yao, catching Arthur's yawn, yawned himself and turned back to his work. Arthur groaned, letting his arms fall to his side as he flopped forward, leaning on his desk.

"Ugh, we've been here since 7:00… how much paperwork can there possibly be? Do the big wigs even work?" Arthur got not reply from Yao, who had apparently nodded off at some point between now and telling him the time. Arthur smirked and rolled his eyes, deciding to be nice and let his friend nap for a few minutes before waking him so he could get back to work.

As he returned his attention to the files on his computer and the files of paper on his desk, he felt a vibration in his pocket. Sighing he dug out his phone. It was a text from Alfred.

Smiling softly, Arthur opened the message.

**Alfred: **

**Hey! In case I dont have time to say this 2morrow, merry x mas dude! *XD**

Arthur repressed a laugh at the santa emoticon, Arthur quickly typed out a reply.

**Arthur:**

**Thanks, Merry Christmas to you too. Have a happy New Year as well.**

Arthur put his phone down, expecting the text conversation to be over and got back to work, grabbing a highlighter from his pencil cup, he tossed it at Yao, hitting the man on the head and waking him up with a jolt.

"I'm up… I'm… up, aru…" Yao's reply was basically incoherent, but Arthur still found it amusing and looked down, repressing his grin. The two continued their work in silence, ignoring the chatting from some of the other assistants and interns.

However, a few files, several yawns, and two Christmas songs later, Arthur's phone began to buzz again, feeling the vibration through the desk, Arthur looked over to see his phone, signaling another text.

When he picked it up, he felt his breath hitch slightly. It was Alfred again. With fumbling fingers, Arthur opened the message, and couldn't help but blush, feeling light hearted and headed as he read the text.

**Alfred:**

**Thnks man. Cant wait to see u wen i get back. I actually miss ur stuffy ass XP**

Arthur knew Alfred was teasing, but his heart skipped a beat at the thought of Alfred missing him.

"What's wrong, aru? You're all red." Yao noticed, his tired eyes staring at Arthur, perplexed. Arthur's face only deepened in color as he put his phone away, and put his gaze on the computer screen.

"Nothing… just a bit warm, is all…" Arthur mumbled. He knew Yao didn't believe him, but luckily for him, the Asian man was far too tired and overworked to interrogate him any further than his initial question.

"I'll just assume it's more Alfred drama, aru…" Yao went back to filling out paper work as Arthur blanched. Had he really become that obvious? He shook his head, feeling pathetic as he thought,

'_Belt up, Kirkland, no boy should have this sort of effect on you.'_

"Aw, don't feel bad, Arthur! I think its sweet your have such a big crush!"

"Yeah, but he has a boyfriend!"

"Who cares? Just fuck him already, Artie!"

Arthur froze in his seat, his worries about Alfred vanishing instantly. He closed his eyes tightly, his hands clutching the edges of his desk, willing the voices to leave.

"Arthur, are you alright, aru?"

Yao stood up from his chair and walked over. Arthur hadn't seemed to have heard his question, as the Brit continued clutching the desk, his eyes clenched together. Yao noticed Arthur's shoulder shaking slightly.

"Arthur?" Yao voiced again, his voice concerned.

"Aren't you gonna answer him, Arthur?"

"Yeah, ignoring people is rude! I thought Auntie raised you better than that!"

Arthur, if possible, closed his eyes tighter at the sound of Peter's voice. When he felt a hand on his shoulder he practically jumped out of his chair, wiping his head around violently to find Yao standing there, slowly retracting his hand that had previously been on his shoulder.

"Arthur, are you alright, aru? Are you having an attack?"

Arthur took in slow, heavy breaths and looked around, thankful that he recognized everyone in the room and could confirm their existence as they stared at him confused and concerned. Good, at least he could only hear them and not see them.

"I'll be fine…" Yao looked at Arthur skeptically.

"Honestly, I will…"

But Arthur didn't even sound convincing to himself.

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><p>"Matthew?"<p>

Alfred, uncharacteristically timid, stood in his brother's doorway, a hesitant look in his eyes as he gazed at Matthew's form, laying on his bed, reading a book. Matthew looked up, not having noticed that his door had been opened.

"Yes?" He put his book down and gestured for Alfred to enter the room.

"Uh… Can I ask you something?" Alfred asked this softly as he sat at the foot of Matthew's bed. Matthew fully sat up and nodded, giving Alfred his full attention.

"Erm… well it's just that… ever since I told you… about, you know… Antonio… you haven't really said anything… I mean… I thought you would've been mad at me or something but… you're not and… and…" Alfred trailed off and twiddled his thumbs. Matthew looked at his alarm clock; it was five minutes to midnight. Looking back at Alfred, he quirked an eyebrow.

"And? What is it, Al?" Matthew said, a bit impatient. Alfred let out a haggard sigh.

"I just wanted to know… Why? Why aren't you mad or annoyed or scolding me for what happened?" Alfred looked down at his fiddling hands as he asked this, when he finished, an eerie silence filled the air between them. Matthew looked at his brother in disbelief.

"Al, I could never be mad at you for that… What happened was horrible for both you AND Antonio… if anything I'm hurt that you wouldn't tell me this earlier… I hate knowing that you've had to deal with this by yourself all these years… You should've told me sooner… I would've understood." Once again it was silent between the twins. Alfred stood up from the bed, walking aimlessly around the room, stopping at Matthew's dresser. He began fiddling with the various knick knacks, photos, and books placed upon it.

"I know…" Alfred mumbled, his attention still on the dresser as his hand slowly trace and touched each object, as if studying them with his fingers.

"You're gonna tell Kiku, right?"

Alfred nodded and his fingers continued to survey the dresser top's contents. They stopped and hovered over an old Polaroid photo, resting against the wall towards the back, put there as an afterthought.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Alfred gently picked it up, blue eyes focusing on it as he walked back over to the bed and sat where he was previously.

"You still have this…" When Alfred said this, Matthew was sure it was meant to be a question, but the way his brother said it, it sounded more like a statement. Matthew scooted over on the bed to sit next to his brother. Carefully and gently, Matthew placed his hand over Alfred's, as if he were helping his brother hold the photo.

It was a photo that even though he kept, he rarely looked at.

There, in the aged Polaroid sat a woman in a hospital bed, her face obscured from the angle the picture was taken, and her messy red hair, so really all you could make out was a dainty mouth smiling softly and a thin, elegant nose. In her arms were two new born babies, Matthew and Alfred.

"Dad always sucked at taking pictures…" Alfred stated, Matthew let out a small laugh and nodded his head, taking his hand off the photo and Alfred's hand.

"Yeah."

After that, neither of them said anything. Matthew felt as if he should say something. Like something comforting about their mother or a comment or an encouragement of some sort for when Alfred would tell Kiku about his night with Antonio all those years ago. But no sound emitted from his lips, no words came to his mind.

Eventually Alfred let go of the picture, letting it fall to the floor. Matthew made no move to pick it up. After one more short moment of silence, Alfred looked over to the alarm clock on Matthew's bedside table, noting it was past midnight, he placed his arm around Matthew's shoulder and looked at him with a happy smile, as if the sad atmosphere had never been there.

"Merry Christmas, Mattie!" He said, giving his brother's shoulder a squeeze. Matthew grinned and placed his own hand on Alfred's shoulder, copying his brother, he gave it a squeeze.

"Merry Christmas, Al."

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><p><strong>Ok, so how was it? Did you guys like it? Love it? Want some more of it? (Anyone get the song reference I used? Lol) Anyway, I hope to update soon! If you're a reader of 'Definition of Me' expect an update soon! Once again, sorry for the shortness and long wait for this update. :\ I hope you all don't hate me… Lol. Anyway yea… sorry if it sucked. If the editing and chapter sucked, I'll redo it.<strong>


	19. Please Pick Up, Alfred

**WOOWWWWWWW! I've been gone for WAY too long… I missed you guys! Fo shizzle, I did. Ok, well here's the long awaited update that is WAY too short, but it's all I have to give for now. You would not believe how busy I've been. School + work +having a broken limb in a cast for six weeks around the holidays = SUCKS MONKEY BUTTS! Anyway, I'll continue to be busy for awhile. It sucks… But I'll be trying to update as much as possible. The updates just might be more spread out than I hoped. Anyway, I think that this story will be wrapped up in about 10 to 15 chapters. Exciting, right? But also kinda sad that it's coming to an end… Anyway, I have so many things planned! More multi-chaps for when this and 'Definition' are through, and one-shots! So many one-shots! All UKUS/USUK!**

**Anyway, my New Years' resolution was to reply to reviews again, staring with this chapter. (As well as swearing less… not an easy task.) Because I really do love talking to you guys! I just get SO FRIGGEN' BUSY!**

**Also, I recently read the most amazing USUK one-shot called 'I Only Have Eyes For You' by ananion. It's sooo good. And I am appalled it only had 2 reviews. One being mine. She's a new author and I know you guys would love her story and any future works. So please, give her fic some love! Tell her I sent her if you want, or don't. I don't know. Just please read and review her story, it really deserves much more recognition. Ananion is very talented, and if you love USUK/UKUS, then you'll love the 'I Only Have Eyes For You.'**

**Ok, my little advertisement is done.**

**And THANK YOU soooo much for the messages you all sent about my broken wrist! It was so nice! Thanks so much! It's all better now, by the way!**

**Now then, onto the chapter!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Eighteen: Please pick up, Alfred<strong>

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><p>The violent buzzing vibrations of his cell phone against his night stand slowly woke Arthur up. Lazily, he lifted his head from his pillow, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and the headache from his cranium. He groaned, why did someone have to call or text so early? If it was Francis, he'd kill him. He liked having the apartment to himself while the Frog visited Matthew in Canada.<p>

Reaching over, he could hear the cracking of his stiff limbs. He grimaced slightly and picked up his cellular device and unplugged it from its charger.

"'Ello?" He greeted groggily, not even bothering to check the caller ID to see who it was, or even to see if it was indeed an incoming call or just a text.

Luckily for Arthur though, it was a call.

"Hey Arthur; I'm sorry for waking you."

A call from Matthew no less. Well that was certainly odd.

Arthur and Matthew rarely conversed without Francis or Alfred around, and even though they had exchanged numbers, they hadn't so much as texted one another. So getting a call from the boy was certainly… odd.

"Matthew?" It was all Arthur could really get out at the moment as he fought a yawn that was threatening to escape his lips.

"Yeah… Uhm… uh is this a… a bad time?" Arthur immediately recognized the worried tone in Matthew's voice and wondered what had happened.

"N-no. No its not. What is it? Did something happen?" Arthur asked, fully sitting up in his bed. He looked over to check the time on his alarm clock. It wasn't even eight am yet. Looking away worriedly, Arthur began to think that maybe something could've happened to Francis. Why else would Matthew call HIM?

"Yea… eh no… well… that's just it. We don't know…." Matthew trailed off, his voice going very soft and quiet, causing Arthur having to strain his ears to hear the boy.

"What are you talking about, Matthew?" Arthur pressed, really starting to feel the concern bubble and stab in his chest.

Matthew let out a sigh and there was a pause at his end before he began to speak again.

"Ha-… Have you seen or heard from Alfred recently?" Matthew's voice, if even possible, had become even more soft and quiet than Arthur had ever heard it before.

"I haven't heard from Alfred since…" Arthur paused as he tried to remember exactly when he last had been in contact with the aspiring actor.

"Since the twenty seventh I think… he called me while he was at the airport." Arthur once again looked over to his nightstand, this time to check his mini calendar for today's date. It was the 30th.

Before Matthew replied, Arthur could hear a faint curse coming from the Canadian American's mouth.

"The last I've heard from him was the twenty eighth... And no one else has heard from or seen him since he left for Japan… Alfred won't answer any calls or respond to any texts or emails or messages."

Matthew fell silent again, and Arthur could feel his throat close up.

"I'm worried, Arthur…"

Alfred was missing.

In an attempt to stay calm, Arthur began to slow his breathing, and took long deep breaths.

"Aww, I'm sorry, Arthur! Your boyfriend's missing!"

Arthur shook his head, ignoring the voice. Not now. Now was definitely not the time.

"What about his boyfriend. Ki-… Kiku. Surely he's with Alfred, yes?" Arthur asked this, not even attempting to hide the hopeful tone in his voice.

"No… I called Kiku. Alfred isn't with him… apparently Alfred never showed up in Japan."

When the Brit didn't reply, Matthew spoke up again.

"My dad is tracking Alfred's card, but he hasn't made any transactions. Apparently Alfred emptied out all the cash in his account… and… the airport has no record of him boarding any flights…" Matthew trailed off as other voices came into the background. Arthur recognized one as Francis'.

"Hold on…" Matthew mumbled, and turned away from the phone, but Arthur could still hear, clearly, what they were saying. Anxiously, Arthur pressed the phone to his hear, and tried to calm his breathing.

"Have you guys found anything?"

"_Non, mon ami_. I'm sorry."

Arthur could hear Matthew sigh, before turning back to the Brit on the phone.

"Well, if you hear or see him around the city…"

"I'll notify you immediately."

"Thank you…"

There was a long pause and a soft mumbled goodbye, before the dial tone was all Arthur could hear. He pressed his hand to his forehead and clutched his phone to his chest and groaned. This was not how he expected his day to start out.

Exhaling a heavy breath, he looked done at his phone and dialed a number he was embarrassed to d

"Come on, Alfred… pick up." Arthur begged as he heard the digital ring. Holding his breath, hoping the blue eyed boy would pick up.

"_Hey, this isn't Alfred, but an intelligent machine designed to sound like him, record your message, and give it to him so he may call you back. So leave a message at the…"_ *BEEP*

Arthur rolled his eyes at the idiotic message.

"Git, where are you? Everyone's worried… please, just… just pick up the phone, Alfred…" Arthur paused for a long moment, silently praying for Alfred's voice to come from the other end of the call.

"Pick up, Alfred… pick up… please… pick up your phone…"

**Three Days Ago**

"Passport?"

"Check."

"I.D.?"

"Check…"

"Credit card?"

"Ugh… Check…"

"Ok… Fresh underwear?"

"YES! Check! Come on, Dad, we went through the check list last night, and this morning before we left. I'm all set, ok?" Alfred plastered on a convincing smile, hiding any nervousness or anxiety he was feeling and hoping to convince his father. Rodney smiled and nodded, pulling Alfred into a hug.

"Be safe and have fun. I'm gonna miss you kid…" Giving one last squeeze, the two separated.

"I'll miss you too, Dad."

"Right, well… I'm gonna pull the car around and leave you and Matt to say your goodbyes." Rodney gave Alfred's shoulder a squeeze before walking off to the exit in the airport. Matthew watched their father walk away before turning to Alfred with a reassuring smile. Alfred, however, did not feel reassured, and once he was sure his father was out of sight, dropped his happy façade.

"I can't do this Mattie! Kiku's gonna hate me…" Alfred said, wring his hands together. Matthew shook his head, and firmly placed his hands on his brother's shoulders. With determination, he looked Alfred right in the eyes.

"You can do this, Al. You have to; it's the right thing to do. If Kiku really loves you, he'll understand." Matthew said his voice firm and sure. Alfred took comfort in his brother's strength, knowing he'd have his brother's support no matter what happened. But it didn't make him any more confidant in what he would have to tell his boyfriend when he got to Japan.

"Yeah… yeah, you're right." Alfred said, not very convincingly. Matthew sighed; his brother was never good with conflict. He knew if Alfred wasn't prompted to do so, he would've kept quiet about his "fling" with Antonio.

"It will be FINE. Trust me. When have I ever steered you wrong? Now then, you should get through security now so you have some time to find your flight." Alfred smiled at this.

"You're just like Dad…" Matthew rolled his eyes, but kept his smile nonetheless.

"You'll call us when you land, right?"

"Of course. I'll miss you."

"Miss you too… Dad's probably waiting, so I'll let you go." The twins hugged before separating, smiling at each other one last time, a silent goodbye in their eyes before both finally turned and made their way to the designations. Alfred to the security check, and Matthew to their dad's truck.

* * *

><p>Airports were too busy and too overpriced in Alfred's opinion. It was bullshit. They wouldn't let you bring any food or liquids past the security check so you were forced to purchase their insanely priced waters, sodas, and food.<p>

'_It's criminal.' _Alfred thinks as he bites into $4 cookie and sips his $2.50 bottle of water. The cookie wasn't even that big.

Sighing, he scarfed the rest of the cookie and slumped in his seat. He was too nervous. His flight left in a little over an hour, and he was dreading the moment he'd step on that plane. Once he was on, that was it. No going back.

Shuddering, he took out his phone and scrolled through his contacts, pressing Arthur's number, he held the phone against his ear.

"Hello?" Alfred smiled, relieved to hear the British accent.

"Arthur, hey! Just wanted to call before I left the continent…" Alfred was sure to keep his words steady and even so Arthur wouldn't get suspicious.

"Oh, well, is your flight leaving soon, then?"

"Yeah, I'm at the airport now, my flight boards in like… half an hour. So uh… what's up with you? Any plans to ring in the New Year?"

"Well I got that promotion I told you about. Found out earlier today. As for New Years, I'll be 'ringing' it up in New Jersey, visiting my mum. Exciting, I know…" Arthur chuckled as he said this, and Alfred could hear the smile in the Brits' voice. It made him relax and calm down.

"That's great, Arthur! Congrats! Have fun in _New Jersey."_ Alfred said, his voice picking up a teasing tone as he said the last part, making the 'New Jersey' part sound distasteful. Arthur scoffed.

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with New Jersey, you prick."

Alfred laughed.

"I know, I'm just joshing you. You're too easy, Arthur…" Alfred could hear Arthur mumble a 'git' before continuing.

"Anyway, I should get going… Thanks for talking to me. I'll see you when I get back, right?"

"It was no problem; you can talk to me anytime, Alfred. And yes, I'll see you when you get back. Bye."

"Bye." Alfred hung up the phone and sighed.

Now what?

He'd just get on the plane, go to Japan, tell Kiku the horrible secret he's kept from him since the beginning of their relationship, betray his trust, lose his respect, and his love?

No… No, that wouldn't happen. Matthew was right, Kiku loved him enough to understand and get through this with him.

But… What if he wasn't right about Kiku? Matthew wasn't ALWAYS eight. He did say that "this whole vampire thing will never catch on. Trust me, this will be 'Twilight's' first and ONLY movie. Trust me." And look how that turned out.

'_I…'_

Alfred stood and grabbed his carry on. He swiftly turned in the opposite direction of his flight and bolted down the terminal.

'_I can't do this.'_

He halted his steps when he spotted an ATM. Quickly he took out his card and emptied out the money in his account. Good. This would be enough for whatever or wherever he needed to go or do.

'_I'm sorry, Kiku.'_

**Present day**

"Please, Alfred… just pick up, you git…" Arthur sighed, finally hanging up after leaving a two minute long message of him pleading the other to pick up his phone.

Where could that idiot have gone? Why would he go?

"What if he was taken?" Arthur murmured to himself. His eyes widened. What if Alfred was kidnapped and thrown into a world of drugs and sexual abuse and someone was selling him as a sex slave?

Arthur shook the thoughts from his head. No, that was stupid. That was the plot to the movie 'Taken.'

'_Where ever he is, he better be ok…'_

Arthur looked out the window in his room and for the first time since he woke up, noticed that it was raining. Arthur scoffed.

'_How fitting.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry if the grammar and spelling was bad. I suck at editing my own stuff… Bleh. So yeah. Hoped you all liked it and I hope it wasn't too disappointing. <strong>

**Remember to check out ananion's USUK/UKUS one-shot 'I Only Have Eyes For You' you will not regret it, I swear!**

**Where do you think Alfred is? Hmmm?**


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